Yin Ren stood still in front of the pile of debris with a panicked look.
The spirit weapon that resonated with him wasn’t even on the shelf but in a pile that looked like garbage. This kind of thing made Lord Ghost King extremely unhappy. At the same time, he was also a bit vigilant—how did this thing perceive him?
“Any thoughts?”
Xiang Jiang had suddenly appeared right behind him and spoke in a soft tone.
“Shian has a saying that the registered spirit weapon reflects the character of the Black Seal.”
Xiang Jiang was 1.9 meters tall, which was taller than Yin Ren. Yin Ren didn’t look back, nor did he pay any attention to the hoarse ringing in front of him. He stood still as he replied casually to Xiang Jiang, “Senior Xiang, what’s your registered spiritual weapon?”
“A dagger that will never become dull,” Xiang Jiang answered.
Yin Ren: “……” Ah, was this the taste of jealousy?
He didn’t know what the thing that was ringing frantically under the debris was, but it sounded like a cellphone. However, if it were an alarm clock or some cheap children’s toy, this thousand-year-old Ghost King would not know how he would maintain his face.
“Could it be voice-activated?” Among the rapid ringing, Yin Ren tried to squeeze out a little modern knowledge to find an excuse.
Xiang Jiang ignored him and hastily commanded, “Hurry up and take your spirit weapon, and stop wasting other people’s time.”
With no options left, Yin Ren had to dig through the pile of debris with a bitter face, acting like he was sorting out garbage. Not long after, he grabbed the thing that was ringing crazily.
The moment he took it out of the pile of debris, the ringing suddenly stopped. This was so unexpected that Yin Ren thought he had gone deaf for a moment.
The thing was a broken, old phone.
While it was still a touch screen, the style wasn’t very modern; at least compared to the ones issued by Shian, it was significantly worse. The screen was cracked with a few gruesome marks, and the phone was covered in scratches and dents. Yin Ren flipped it around—this thing could still power on, and there wasn’t a password set.
The phone only had a few basic apps installed, and the wallpaper was a pitiful big yellow dog. In the upper-left corner, a notification prompt kept frantically flashing, saying that there wasn’t a SIM card installed, indicating this thing didn’t have access to Shian’s network.
There was a faint evil qi coming from it, but it didn’t feel like it came from the craftsman who made it but rather from something that was stuck in it.
The phone was stained with sticky residue and exuded a sour smell. Yin Ren put it down in disgust and wiped his hands.
As a result, as soon as he got rid of this terrible thing, the harsh “ringing” resounded again throughout the entire warehouse, blasting into everyone’s eardrums. The bell sounded like wailing and was so shrill that even Zhong Chengshuo had to plug in his ears and retreat to the entrance.
“It seems that this is your spirit weapon.”
Amidst the noise, Xiang Jiang stood in place. He tugged at the corner of his mouth and glanced at the number behind the phone.
“I’ll do the registration. Keep that thing with you. If you lose it, the value multiplied by ten will be deducted from your salary.”
Yin Ren grabbed the phone in despair, and the ringing abruptly stopped again.
The label on the back of the phone was scribbled: [The phone often replaces original apps with ghost apps, so it sometimes displays weird content.]
When he flipped the phone back around, it seemed to be trying to show itself off. In just the blink of an eye, the “message” on its desktop changed to “disheartened”*, and the icon of the original notification box also became heart-shaped.
*Clarity: The original “message/information” [xinxi] (信息) was changed to “disheartened” [xinxi] (心息). The latter is a word that means to be disheartened. || Basically, the phone is mocking Yin Ren.
….How subtly annoying. Yin Ren didn’t even want to click on it.
What was the practical use of this thing? Could it be used to scare Zhong Chengshuo? He could imagine Zhong Chengshuo advising him to reinstall the system as soon as possible, but then again…
“Does this thing always work without batteries since it’s a spirit weapon?”
Xing Jiang: “Yes.”
Yin Ren: “We have to find a way to change it into a rechargeable treasure.”
Xiang Jiang gave him a confused look. The phone, noticing something, began to ring wildly in Yin Ren’s hand. It seemed to want to go back to the pile of debris.
Yin Ren sneered and put it in his pocket, then tapped hard on it twice. “You’re the one who called to me. Don’t try to back out now.”
Even if he disliked this thing, he had to confirm and see if it would ring when it was held by other people or if it could detect something that couldn’t be detected.
The old cellphone lingering in Yin Ren’s pocket: “Ring…”
It rang weakly; it was unknown whether it was responding to Yin Ren or not.
“Well, seeing that my spirit weapon is registered, Senior Xiang, is there any kind of symbolic meaning to this kind of muddied phone? I don’t think this has anything to do with my character…”
“Maybe you prefer to fish at work*.” Seeing that Yin Ren’s spirit weapon was mediocre, Xiang Jiang seemed to have lost interest.
*Refers to basically slacking off while at work. This derives from the idiom “catching fish in troubled water” (浑水摸鱼) which means to cause chaos for the enemy and then take advantage of it to gain benefits. || He’s mostly correct because Yin Ren’s entire goal is to be a slacker with no ambition (a salted fish) and try to get by in life by “working” at Shian.
Yin Ren choked. Isn’t this a bit too accurate? Shian was truly terrifying.
……
Night.
Yin Ren squeezed through the subway again. When he finally entered through the door, he threw down his bag and flung himself onto the sofa.
This thing was softer than a bedboard, so Yin Ren liked it a lot. He quickly nestled onto it and stretched out lazily.
Since Shian gave them three meals a day on weekdays, there was no need for Zhong Chengshuo to cook tonight. He stood in front of the sofa, showing a tangled face.
“What?”
“Do you mind if I sit here for a while?” Zhong Chengshuo sat at the edge of the sofa with clasped hands. “I’m not used to staying in the bedroom all the time.”
“This is your place. Why are you being so polite? I don’t mind as long as you don’t mind me eating.” Yin Ren tucked in his legs and opened the food delivery app on his phone.
It seemed that this time he had to behave properly, which made Yin Ren somewhat regretful. Still, the feeling of living with someone day and night was quite new to him. Seeing Zhong Chengshuo’s stiff posture, it was most likely he felt the same as well.
The quiet atmosphere only lasted for half a minute.
Zhong Chengshuo scooted inward on the sofa and sat upright. “We didn’t train together today. What did you do on your side?”
He paused for a moment, then added solemnly, “I need to understand what you experienced.”
“Nothing. I was just handed ghost master training materials and was given a work task—find a ghost-like evil creature, talk to it, and try to get on good terms with it.”
That sounded weird.
Yin Ren narrowed his eyes at his bag. The bag was an induction gift issued by the personnel department. It had the logo of Shian printed on it and was filled with books, post-it notes, and talismans that were accompanied by a large number of soft-headed cinnabar brushes.
Thousands of years had passed, yet the tools a cultivator used had remained the same.
Yin Ren didn’t worry about his metaphysical task. He could just talk with Miss Hu Tao next door some other day and easily complete it. Even if Hu Tao didn’t want to cooperate, he could just go for a stroll in the community and randomly capture some unlucky “kid”.
The real headache was the non-metaphysical tasks.
Yin Ren’s handbag had a huge bulge in it due to the thick manuals of <Shian Combat Fundamentals>, <Wilderness Survival Manual>, and <Compliance: The Encyclopedia of Laws You May Come into Contact With>. When Lord Ghost King swept his eyes over those books, he felt as though he was almost suffocating.
Zhong Chengshuo looked at the bookshelf speechlessly. The training materials on his side were already sorted out. In addition to the same three books Yin Ren had to read, his also included <Common First Aid>, <Common Mechanical Repair>, and <The Art of Communication>.
<The Art of Communication> was handed to him by Fang Yuanyuan herself, who said that it was a special treatment only for him among all the newcomers this year.
Seeing Zhong Chengshuo’s gaze floating to the bookshelf, Yin Ren propped himself up. “Do you want to read here? Then I’ll go to the dining table to eat.”
As soon as Yin Ren got up, the old cellphone slipped out of his pocket and fell to the floor. Its screen smacked on the floor, and it made two exceptionally weak “ring”.
Zhong Chengshuo pinched a piece of tissue and used it to pick up the dirty old phone. Looking at its weakly lit screen, which now had a freshly new crack, he saw a 1% battery life.
“…This is your ‘registered spirit weapon’?”
“Yeah, I have to take it with me every day. It doesn’t seem to have any special use except having too much power that never runs out.”
“This is a classic model from six years ago.” Zhong Chengshuo looked at the phone curiously. “If there are no other major problems, you can ask Shian if you can use it. In many cases, ‘endless power’ is an incredible advantage.”
The phone vibrated twice on the spot, and the battery level soared to 10%.
Yin Ren: “…” Is the battery the mood index of this thing?
Yin Ren: “It looks in such bad condition. Can it really be used?”
“Wait a minute.” Zhong Chengshuo stood up.
He walked to his bedroom. The sound of rummaging through boxes and cabinets could be heard coming from the room. Since Zhong Chengshuo had always closed and locked his bedroom, Yin Ren hadn’t seen what it looked like.
Soon, Zhong Chengshuo walked out the door carrying a small toolbox along with a cellphone that was the same model as Yin Ren’s spirit weapon. Unlike the spirit weapon found in the garbage pile, this old phone looked as if it was brand new.
Zhong Chengshuo sat at the dining table and lined up the shiny silver tools. “I happen to have the same model. They don’t make them anymore. I can help you repair yours… The particularity of this thing isn’t in the case or the screen, right?”
“No, it’s not… Forget it. You can do your thing first.”
Considering that this phone had to be kept close to his body at all times, it was better to clean it up first.
The cellphone spirit weapon lay obediently on the table, and its battery power rose to 50% out of nowhere, as if it were inexplicably eager to give it a try.
Zhong Chengshuo’s movements were as precise as if he were doing surgery. He gently removed the outer case and screen, disassembled the parts, and carefully cleaned the accumulated dirt and dust that was inside the phone. A bright light illuminated his face, showing eyes full of concentration, as if what he was holding in his hands was the top priority in the world.
Seeing him so serious, Yin Ren felt awkward slumping on the sofa. Lord Ghost King pulled a chair over and sat next to Zhong Chengshuo. He propped up his face and watched his partner swipe with a soft brush and then wipe with a silk cloth.
While one person operated quietly, the other was watching silently. There was only a slow breathing sound left in the room, making it seem as if time had stagnated.
Yin Ren couldn’t understand the purpose of Zhong Chengshuo’s movements, but this person’s hands were indeed beautiful. There were no wounds or calluses on his hands, his fingers were slender, his joints were distinct, and there weren’t many obvious blue veins in between them.
Yin Ren thought absentmindedly that the bones underneath his skin must also be extremely beautiful.
With neat movements, the old phone was cleaned up with a new case and screen, allowing Yin Ren to successfully install his phone card. The old case engraved with Shian’s number was removed in a small strip and polished before it was glued to the back of the new case, making it look like a delicate and unique ornament.
Zhong Chengshuo then used a soft cloth soaked in alcohol and wiped the entire case carefully. “It’s fixed.”
When the phone returned to Yin Ren’s hand, it looked completely brand new, as if it had never left its packaging.
After one cleaning, its power had increased to 100%.
Zhong Chengshuo didn’t miss a single thing. Even the apps that Yin Ren often used were already installed on it. Yin Ren fidgeted with the phone for a quick moment and found that it operated quite smoothly—this thing seemed to be honest and didn’t give him any weird apps.
Well, he would have plenty of time to study it in the future.
Yin Ren thought for a bit, then opened the settings page and changed the default ringing to a barking dog.
“Thank you, Zhong Ge,” Yin Ren said as he happily played with the spirit weapon. “It looks really good now, and there’s no need to look for an outlet in the future.”
Zhong Chengshuo nodded and glanced at the time. “I’m going to sleep now. Good night.”
“Good night.” Yin Ren was still excited. “I’ll prepare a surprise for you tomorrow.”
That night.
“What? You want me to attach evil qi to this phone chain?” Hu Tao scratched her head.
In front of her were two tacky phone ornaments, which were the fruits of Lord Ghost King’s triumphant first attempt at online shopping last night…
The two pendants were shaped like chubby hamsters, with one saying “Wealth and Prosperity” and the other saying “Blessing and Luck”. It seemed to be a popular style among elementary and middle school students.
Hu Tao looked at Yin Ren with almost pity after taking a closer look. “You’re… not going to use this for yourself, right?”
No matter how she looked at it, the cost of these two things didn’t exceed two yuan.
“Gold and red look very joyful.” Yin Ren couldn’t put it down. “If you get the aura of a powerful ghost, the average evil spirit won’t get close.”
Despite the fact that Zhong Chengshuo seemed unaffected by evil beings, they could still bring trouble to the people around him, which could implicate him. Hu Tao’s strength wasn’t weak, so if he used her evil qi, it could ward off other evil spirits.
“Then why not just do it yourself?” Hu Tao scratched her nose as she muttered.
“It’s inconvenient for me.” Yin Ren tore off a post-it note. “Hu Tao Jie, as long as you do me this favor, I’ll give you an apple. What is your birth date?”
Hu Tao suddenly cheered up. “Deal!”
Then she came back to her senses and said, in disbelief, “…Wait, hearing your intentions, are you planning to give them away?”
Yin Ren made a pained expression. “I’ll give one to Zhong Chengshuo as a thank you. Originally, I wanted to keep them both.”
Hu Tao: “…” Whatever, as long as you’re happy.
Two minutes later, Hu Tao got her offering and was munching jubilantly on an apple while Yin Ren was staring blankly with a solemn expression at the talisman with Hu Tao’s fate* and birth date written on it.
*Ba-Zi. It’s a Chinese astrological concept of a person’s destiny or fate that can be divined by two sexagenary cycle characters assigned to their birth year, month, day, and hour.
Hu Tao: “What are you thinking? If you’re not going to watch a show tonight, I’ll go back first.”
“I have another little favor to ask of you.”
“Say it.”
“The so-called ghost master, in essence, has to do two things. The first is to strike a deal with an evil being and obtain a contract, and the second is to use a talisman to designate the specific evil being and provide them with time and location information so they can contact them.”
“…Uh, I studied accounting…” She grew up under the sun, and even after she died, she hadn’t been exposed to such weird knowledge.
“It’s okay if you don’t understand. Just cooperate with me later.” Yin Ren took out the cellphone spirit weapon and knocked on its case. “Buddy, it’s time to get to work.”
“Woof woof.” The ringtone of the phone had changed, so now it was ringing out weak barks.
Yin Ren went through the phone and clicked on new software on the screen. “Get a ghost app. The one I just clicked on.”
“Woof.”
“Good boy. I’ll give you some evil qi later.” Yin Ren opened the ghost app and looked satisfied.
He then picked up the talisman paper that Hu Tao had written her name and birthdate. “Miss Hu, as a confirmation, you will lose some evil qi.”
Hu Tao did so unwittingly—Yin Ren had been gone for so many years that he couldn’t let himself be so easily deceived.
He tossed the talisman into a porcelain bowl, and it started slowly burning. Yin Ren’s cellphone started vibrating—
A notification from an app called “Coffin Nails” popped up. After opening it, there was an internal group called “What to Eat Today” at the top.
There were only two members in the group.
[Hu Tao: ……]
[Hu Tao: ??????????]
[Yin Ren: It really worked. Registration was originally a variant of forming a bond, then using the spirit weapon for text communication… The principle is exactly the same, thanks to modern technology.]
[Yin Ren: Is this called a “paperless office”? It’s nice to not have to carry talisman paper and cinnabar every day.]
[Yin Ren: @Hu Tao, you can contact me any time, and I can summon you from your place of bondage.]
[Yin Ren: I see you have read it.]
[Hu Tao: 1]
[Hu Tao: Not to say no… Help, why can’t I get rid of this even after I’m already dead!]
[Yin Ren: Don’t worry, I’ll share evil qi and offerings with you. Happy cooperation 🤝]
The phone spirit weapon was more useful than Yin Ren thought. A ghost master needed to summon ghosts on the spot, and this made it 10,000 times easier than tearing up talisman paper, drawing runes, and then burning them. Very good. This week’s work task was completed ahead of schedule.
The thing inside the phone probably didn’t expect to be used in this manner, as its battery level had dropped to 60%.
Hu Tao glared at Yin Ren angrily. Her friendly mode was crumbling, and the bloody color on her body gradually became more intense. Yin Ren didn’t panic in the slightest. He slowly opened the refrigerator door and patted his chest. “Come, Miss Hu. You can choose from half of my snacks.”
Ten minutes later, a sharp and loud alarm bell rang throughout the home. Zhong Chengshuo got up, opened the door vigilantly, and poked out his head that was wearing a nightcap… only to see Yin Ren frantically burning paper.
The living room was filled with smoke. As moonlight spilled in from the window, it wandered through the smoke, creating a dreamy scene.
Zhong Chengshuo: “…”
Zhong Chengshuo: “Why are you burning paper indoors? The smoke alarm is going off.”
Yin Ren: “Don’t worry. Just surveying some feudal superstitious customs. I’ll pay attention next time.”
“Well… Remember to quickly open the door to ventilate the space,” Zhong Chengshuo said drowsily.
He yawned, then slowly retracted his head, and slammed the bedroom door shut. In the world that Zhong Chengshuo couldn’t see, Hu Tao was sitting on the refrigerator, holding cured meats as she ate them bitterly. A mountain of snacks was piled around her.
However, soon after Comrade Zhong Chengshuo returned to the bedroom, a sharp ringing was accompanied by the sound of an electronic dog barking, as if it were singing along with the smoke alarm.
Zhong Chengshuo slowly stretched out his head again, causing the nightcap to tilt so much that it fell off. “Mr. Yin, what on earth are you…”
“This isn’t me this time!” Yin Ren was busy putting out the fire in the bowl. “It’s the phone. Our phones are ringing!”
Zhong Chengshuo glanced at his watch painfully and saw it was 2 a.m.
“Hello, how are you?” Zhong Chengshuo rubbed his face fiercely and took the lead to answer the phone. “May I ask who is calling?”
“Shian, Lu Xiaohe, Science Post, your rear commander.” A loud female voice sounded. “Come on, comrades. It’s time to get up and work overtime. The one named Yin Ren lives with you, right? Wake him up and take him with you.”
Zhong Chengshuo glanced at Yin Ren, who was currently fighting with the smoke alarm. “Something happened to him, and he can’t leave. Can we do this tomorrow—”
“Haha, I don’t want to get up at this hour either.” The female voice paused and laughed helplessly. “I can’t help it. My old contact from the police station just called me urgently. The scene isn’t waiting for anyone.”
“You two, this time it’s a serious criminal case.”
The author has something to say:
Electronic pet (???) get!
Sister Hu Tao replied with the word “1”, which is actually commonly used by social animals… After receiving the job request, answering “1” means I already know/seen it/ok. Explaining it to those who may not know this. _(:з”∠)_
Shian’s working hours started at 9 a.m., but the two received a call from Fang Yuanyuan at 7.
Fang Yuanyuan said that Shian’s guards were particularly strict. They still need to go through the final process of joining the company before they can clock in and out normally. The two only had time to eat half an apple and fill up a cup of soy milk before they left home in a hurry.
Zhong Chengshuo’s home wasn’t far from the subway station. Today was when Lord Ghost King finally experienced human morning rush hour for the first time.
In order to avoid trouble, Zhong Chengshuo prepared a mask for Yin Ren. When he got off at the bus station, Yin Ren’s eyes were glazed over, and his mask was tilted. The steam bun he had been carrying was squeezed into mush.
Fortunately, Yin Ren didn’t need much sleep, so he didn’t struggle to wake up. He had to say that the apples Zhong Chengshuo bought were delicious; at least they saved his mood along the way.
However, his only remaining good mood came to an abrupt end after entering the Shian building…
Fang Yuanyuan confiscated Yin Ren’s lamb and carrot steamed buns.
“Miss Fang…” Yin Ren wanted to stupidly protest.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Yin. Since we’ve entered the office area of Shian, food is not allowed here.”
“But isn’t this a bit wasteful?” How could Shian have more rules than Zhong Chengshuo’s home?
Fang Yuanyuan put the steam buns in her pocket and put on her signature smile. “Don’t worry. There will be other employees that’ll help solve it.”
She led them around seven or eight turns before walking into an isolated conference room.
The small meeting room was separated by glass and had two rows of sofas. Which could seat a maximum of six. It was full of green plants, and there was a large water cooler in the corner.
The water dispenser seemed to have been used for a long time, as the plastic lever was a washed-out yellow. There was a row of half-used disposable paper cups stacked by the water dispenser. The cooler was half full of clean water. The waterspout seemed to be a little damaged, as it kept making a ticking sound.
“It’s not easy for the two of you to get here. Please be sure to abide by the staff rules. A more detailed manual will be sent to your inbox later. The information on this piece of paper is the most important, so keep it in mind.”
Fang Yuanyuan’s voice was sweet as usual. She had a new manicure and colorful contact lenses, and she was wearing a long dress that went down to her ankles.
“Remember it, firmly.” She emphasized again with a smile.
Then she took out the document bag and gave them each a piece of paper with a brand-new official work ID. The original work ID was taken away and cut in half with a simple click.
“Mr. Yin, if you have something you don’t understand, you can ask me anytime.” Fang Yuanyuan threw the remnants of the cut ID into the file bag and clapped her hands as she added this last sentence.
Perhaps it was because the water temperature had dropped, but the water dispenser suddenly made a rumbling sound, and the green light on the dispenser turned red.
Zhong Chengshuo pursed his lips and glanced at the water dispenser.
“After reading the employee rules, be sure to sign them. You can go to the cafeteria for a meal later. Your official work card can be used as a meal card.” Fang Yuanyuan’s tone was brisk. “We have mini mushroom wontons this morning. You can eat together after you’re done.”
Hearing that there was a cafeteria with food, Yin Ren quickly scanned the contents of the paper.
He was sure he could basically understand it, but the content of the so-called “employee rules” was a bit weird…
[Code of Conduct for Employees of Shian Corp—Non-science Posts (Black Seal)]
[Job instructions: Emergency Management Department Internal Line: 509
Only sealed packaged beverages such as bottled water are allowed in the office area, or you can bring your own drinking water provided by the dorms. Please do not drink water in the office area. Violators will be punished. Please eat in the company cafeteria. It is strictly forbidden to bring food into the office area.
Personal belongings are permitted. The size cannot exceed that of a child. Coats with no more than 1m in length can be worn, and the storage of such clothing shall not exceed 24 hours. It is strictly prohibited to take the initiative to bring live animals into the office area (including, but not limited to, potted plants, pets, children, ect.). If you bring animal/human corpses into the office area due to work reasons, please give us 12 hours in advance notice.
If a colleague (or other foreign body) behaves abnormally (including, but not limited to, abnormal body shape, abnormal facial features, and weird speech and behavior) is observe in the office area, please do not continue to observe and resume working normally.
Trespassing into the security room is strictly prohibited. If you want to enter, please ensure that at least one science post employee is with you.
If you need to leave the company for 7 days or more (including personal leave), please bring the company’s registered spirit weapon and clock in when you return to the office area. If you don’t show the spirit weapon, you are prohibited from entering. If the spirit weapon is lost for any reason, please contact the Emergency Handling Department immediately.]
Yin Ren pondered for a while, then turned to Zhong Chengshuo. “Can I take a look at yours?”
“Yes, let’s exchange.” Zhong Chengshuo appeared to be lost in thought and handed Yin Ren his paper absentmindedly.
Yin Ren glanced at his partner’s expression carefully. After Zhong Chengshuo had finished reading the paper, there were still no changes to that scholarly face.
But the rules he handed over were also not normal.
Sure enough, their job categories were different, and the version of the employee code was also different. Zhong Chengshuo was in the “science post”. The content had changed beginning with the second rule…
[……..
You can bring personal belongings. The size of personal belongings shall not exceed that of a child. Coats with no more than 1m in length can be worn, and the storage of such clothing shall not exceed 24 hours. You can bring potted plants. If the appearance of the potted plant you see is different from that described by your colleagues, please contact the security personnel immediately.
If you smell an odor in the office area or see unexplained stains of unknown origin and the duration of their existence is more than 10 minutes, regardless of whether you are the only one observing, please contact the security personnel immediately.
If a colleague (or other foreign body) behaves abnormally (including, but not limited to, abnormal body shape, abnormal facial features, and weird speech and behavior) is observe in the office area, no matter how long the abnormality lasts, do not judge without authorization. Please go to the security room immediately and contact the Emergency Handling Department.
If you need to leave the company for 7 days or more (including personal leave), please set the key via the company’s intranet before leaving…]
Yin Ren: “……”
He was enlightened. In a nutshell, as a reserve employee in a non-science post, he just had to eat and sleep on time and mind his own business. Science post employees were just the opposite. They had to wade through all the bullshit and take care of everything.
How miserable. He had started to sympathize with Zhong Chengshuo.
Tick.
…The water dispenser was really annoying. Yin Ren quietly closed half his ear canal and automatically reduced the ambient volume.
Not far away, Fang Yuanyuan was still standing there. She stood smiling as she stared at them affectionately.
Tick.
“Come, follow me to the security room.” When Yin Ren finished reading the two papers, Zhong Chengshuo abruptly stood up.
Fang Yuanyuan became a little confused. “Hey, hey, Xiao Zhong, you haven’t signed yet, and there are still things I have to say before we finish—”
“Both versions of the code of conduct have repeatedly emphasized that water cannot be drunk in the office area.” As Zhong Chengshuo spoke, he pointed to the dripping water dispenser.
“…Why is there such a thing in the conference room?”
There was silence in the conference room.
“Security personnel wouldn’t make this kind of mistake. According to the code of conduct, it can be judged as a ‘foreign body’.” Zhong Chengshuo spoke slowly, emphasizing his speech.
Fang Yuanyuan’s smile became a bit more awkward. “Uh, Mr. Zhong, that’s the test product that the administration put here. Attention to detail is a good thing. If you’re not at ease, I’ll go to the security room with you later. In short, let’s finish the process first.”
The water was still dripping, little by little. The disposable paper cup that was catching it was filled, and the water gradually overflowed along the mouth of the cup.
Yin Ren looked around but couldn’t see anything wrong with the water dispenser, but he suspected there was something afoot. Lord Ghost King crossed his arms and decided to stand on the sidelines.
After a few seconds of silence, Zhong Chengshuo tensed his body and spoke again without any wavering in his tone. “It’s a ‘foreign body’. This is my judgment.”
This sentence wasn’t a statement but rather a kind of test for Fang Yuanyuan.
Seeing his attitude, Fang Yuanyuan’s smile widened a bit.
She grinned and clapped her hands. “Very good, very good. Few newcomers would be alert at this level.”
“This is a small test. There will be additional bonuses if you pass. Now, take the employee code of conduct and sign it…”
Zhong Chengshuo turned to Yin Ren and said in a firm tone, “Follow me.”
“I’ve already said it’s a test, Mr. Zhong. Please cooperate with me.” Fang Yuanyuan patted her forehead. “You two are in the penalty period for violating the rules. If you violate the rules again during this period, I’ll be scolded by Minister Li.”
Zhong Chengshuo turned a deaf ear to what she said. Yin Ren glanced at Fang Yuanyuan and stood up slowly.
[No matter how long the abnormality lasts, do not judge without authorization. Please go to the security room immediately and contact the Emergency Handling Department.]
Zhong Chengshuo was putting the code of conduct into practice.
Yin Ren probably understood what was going on. Now that they were partners, the two of them were in the same boat, so he was justified in acting with his partner—even if it was explicitly against the rules, Shian couldn’t punish him because of this.
“Let’s go,” Yin Ren said crisply.
Zhong Chengshuo stretched out his hand and grabbed Yin Ren’s wrist through his sleeve. He ignored Fang Yuanyuan’s warning, dragged Yin Ren all the way back, and headed straight to the security room.
The security room was at the entrance of the building, which made it quite conspicuous. Zhong Chengshuo sprinted quickly as he kept his grip on Yin Ren’s hand while using his other hand to make an internal call.
At the moment they opened the security room, both their phones and applause sounded simultaneously.
In the security room, besides two security guards in uniform, Fang Yuanyuan and an unfamiliar man were standing there.
As if the scene had just been replayed, Fang Yuanyuan smiled and applauded. “Xiang Jiang, what did I tell you? The quality of this newcomer is really good.”
Zhong Chengshuo was stunned. He let go of Yin Ren’s wrist. “That was…”
Another “Fang Yuanyuan” caught up from behind. The stiff smile on her face had not yet dissipated. She stopped at the door of the security room and stared straight at Zhong Chengshuo and Yin Ren without blinking.
“It’s a spirit weapon made by me. Isn’t it realistic?” Fang Yuanyuan walked to her “twin” and grimaced.
‘It is really realistic,’ Yin Ren thought to himself.
The spirit weapon moved naturally, and its breathing and heartbeat were well imitated. Its hair was probably from Fang Yuanyuan herself and was soaked in the aura of the living so that most ordinary evil things couldn’t distinguish it. Cultivators referred to this as a “flesh figurine” thousands of years ago, and it was one of the most difficult spirit weapons to create.
This girl’s level of craftsmanship was quite high.
Zhong Chengshuo clenched his phone tightly. He still hadn’t disconnected the internal call.
“You can stop the call. Emergency Management Department, Xiang Jiang.” The unfamiliar man in the room connected the call and motioned for Zhong Chengshuo on the other line. “I’m certifying that all this is indeed a test. Continue.”
When he said that, he propped up his eyes and glanced at the two men; his gaze lingered on Yin Ren for a few seconds longer.
Yin Ren, likewise, was also observing him.
Xiang Jiang looked less than 30. He wore a flurry of unmatched items that had no aesthetic appeal. There were mismatched earrings, socks, and shoes. He was unusually thin and could barely be considered handsome. His complexion didn’t look very healthy, and his eyes were cloudy like those of an old man.
As a cultivator, this person could be considered a master, but he was much weaker than Fu Xingchuan. He had an extremely strong evil qi on his body, most likely because he had coexisted with it for a long time.
Fang Yuanyuan patted Xiang Jiang. “Xiang Jiang, our genius ghost master of Haigu. Xiao Yin, this is your future senior.”
Hearing the word “genius”, Xiang Jiang showed an unconcealed expression of disgust.
“I have limited time, so hurry up.” He casually spat out his words and averted his eyes, obviously not interested in the two newcomers.
Fang Yuanyuan seemed to be used to this. She pulled back the topic. “This is the induction practice of Shian, and you’ve done a stellar job. Zhong Chengshuo wasn’t confused, and Yin Ren also chose to trust his partner. If you guys hadn’t recognized the water cooler trap in time, you’ve probably be a little frightened—”
She made a casual gesture, and the throat of the spirit weapon beside her made a few “cracking” sounds. Suddenly, the head split open and exposed two large hyacinth bouquets.
“Congratulations on your official entry to Shian!” Fang Yuanyuan distributed the bouquets to the two of them.
Yin Ren: “…..” Was there a misconception? Miss Fang’s sense of humor was slightly morbid.
Zhong Chengshuo took the bouquet, broke through the casserole* and asked, “Why can’t you drink water in the office area?”
*Metaphor referring to investigating the root of things.
“Ah, well before, water dispensers could still be used.” Fang Yuanyuan straightened her hair. “Then there was a vicious cognitive pollution—at that time, Shian introduced a patrol machine, and the machine found that the water dispenser that the employees had been using for over half a year was actually the body of a missing colleague.”
Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo: “…”
Yin Ren: “Then the water at that time…”
“Corpse water, followed by residues of who knows what.” Fang Yuanyuan smiled bitterly. “The worst thing was that the deceased was still alive when he disappeared. According to the judgment of experts at the time, he probably thought he was a water dispenser.”
Yin Ren didn’t understand, but he was still greatly shocked.
Zhong Chengshuo: “Then what was in the meeting room just now…?”
“Oh, that.” Fang Yuanyuan waved her hand dismissively. “That’s an antique water dispenser I had a colleague bring in.”
Zhong Chengshuo breathed a sigh of relief.
“The rule ‘you can’t bring personal belongings the size of a living person’ is also to reduce the number of incidents like this,” Fang Yuanyuan calmly added. “After all, we have a colleague who disappeared in the office area two years ago and hasn’t been found yet.”
Yin Ren slowly put down the bouquet, suddenly feeling that the thing he was holding in his hands was a bit hot.
He thought sadly that there was no job in the world that could earn a lot of money with less work.
“In short, the employee code of conduct is written to protect you. It’s important to remember this. Now there’s one last step—Xiang Jiang, please take our new Black Seal to pick up his spirit weapon.”
“Keep up.” Xiang Jiang opened the door of the security room with an impatient face.
Zhong Chengshuo, who was still holding his bouquet, said, “I’m going too?”
“Since you two are field partners, it’s best to know more about each other.” Xiang Jiang snorted. “You science posts should pay more attention and make sure the people around you haven’t been replaced.”
“…” Zhong Chengshuo slowly put down the bouquet, and his expression gradually became complicated.
……
The place where registered spirit weapons were selected wasn’t far from the security room. It looked like an abandoned warehouse.
Rows of elevated buildings were filled with scattered debris, many of which had been specially packed in cardboard boxes. Those sundries weren’t big. This wasn’t so much a regular spirit weapon warehouse than a storage room for goods from a second-hand market.
There were dirty pens, pencils, utility knives, and rulers covered with dust. A bear keychain that was missing an eye, the cover of a notebook that was stained with suspicious spots, a calculator that had a screen that kept flickering, and nothing looked new on the entire shelf.
Yin Ren began to miss his dagger spirit weapon fiercely. Compared to these modern rags, his dagger was exquisite and more atmospheric.
Unfortunately, he could only see it in a museum now.
“Do I get to pick one myself?” he asked bitterly.
The focus of Zhong Chengshuo was elsewhere. “Are there anomalies in these items?”
There were a few thousand pieces of “scrap” here, and he didn’t know how long Shian had recorded their anomalies.
Xiang Jiang gave them a sideways glance. “These things are not worthy of being recorded as anomalies. They are the lowest-level inferior spirit weapons and can only be used as proof of identity for employees.”
Zhong Chengshuo curiously picked up a fountain pen, opened the cap, and took a look—except for a line of identification numbers engraved on it, the pen was no different from other fountain pens.
He turned the pen’s body and found a warning label on the pen holder: [A small probability the ink in the pen will turn blood red.]
Zhong Chengshuo: “…” Objectively speaking, this thing was pretty useless.
He put the pen back in place, speechless.
Yin Ren was holding a tape measure that would “100% cut your hands when pulled out”. “Then I’ll just take whatever…”
“No.” Xiang Jiang leaned against the entrance of the warehouse. “The spirit weapon has to respond to you, so it will be more difficult for the outside world to forge it.”
Yin Ren: “What if it doesn’t respond to me?”
Yin Ren suppressed his power thoroughly. For these spirit weapons, there was basically no difference between him and Zhong Chengshuo. Even the flesh figurine couldn’t detect his abnormality. If there was a spirit weapon that could detect his anomalies, then such a thing would never appear in this ghost of a place.
Xiang Jiang ignored him. “Walk back and forth along the shelf and see if there are any spirit weapons that resonate with you.”
Yin Ren had to pace slowly between the shelves. His mind had already drifted to the cafeteria in the park. It was almost 9 now, and he didn’t know what kind of breakfast Shian’s cafeteria would serve…
Just like that, Yin Ren wandered around the warehouse while counting all the dishes in his head.
“Ring ring ring—”
Yin Ren subconsciously touched his pocket. How weird. He should have muted his phone when he walked into the building earlier.
“Ring ring ring—”
A default ringtone from a cellphone came from the pile of debris. Yin Ren wasn’t sure if he was thinking too much, but the ringtone sounded slightly weak.
“Ring ring ring ring ring ring—”
The ringing kept going until he finally stopped in front of a pile of debris that looked like a mountain of garbage.
The author has something to say:
Xiao Zhong & Xiao Yin: This company of yours is really harmful. _(:з”∠)_
Zhong Chengshuo’s parents’ home was ordinary. It was small in size, had few furnishings, and was simple. Since Zhong Chengshuo was a person with few desires, Yin Ren guessed that his place would be similar in style.
As soon as the door to the home opened, Yin Ren stood frozen at the doorway.
‘…No wonder Zhong Chengshuo didn’t want to live in Shian’s dorm,’ Yin Ren thought.
Zhong Chengshuo lived in a community called Ping’an Manor. The building was relatively new, with lush greenery around, including a lake with multiple pavilions. The residence itself was about 130 square meters, and the door faced floor-to-ceiling windows.
The windows almost covered the entire wall. The floor Zhong Chengshuo lived on was neither too high nor too low, so it had an excellent view of the scene. The lush landscape nearby complimented the brightly lit buildings in the distance.
The home was comfortably warm, and the wooden floor was clean and heated. The decoration of the entire residence had a homely style to it, filled with the fragrance of life; there was even the smell of fresh flowers floating in the air.
The walnut furniture was paired with a variety of lush green plants, and the ghost standing in the corner added a touch of dark red, which complimented the entire space.
Yin Ren exclaimed, “The TV says that housing prices are expensive, so you are quite good.”
Zhong Chengshuo handed him a pair of slippers. “No, it’s because there are so many murders in this community that the price is very cheap.”
Yin Ren cast another glance at the ghost in the corner that seemed to be facing the wall and fell into contemplation.
Not to mention anything else, the lady in the corner was powerful, at least one level stronger than Mr. Rose—her long hair was covered with blood scabs, and her pajamas were dyed a dark red with blood. Evil qi was emanating everywhere from the female ghost. When she turned her head 180 degrees, a white eye could be seen peeking through the gap in her hair.
Zhong Chengshuo didn’t seem to notice her. “In terms of living, this is one of the safest communities in Haigu—many of the small apartments in the community are owned by police officers, forensic pathologists, or medical staff.”
Compared with a murder house, a mortgage was more terrifying.
Yin Ren stood in awe. “Why didn’t you buy a small apartment?”
“This one was cheaper,” Zhong Chengshuo replied solemnly.
Got it. Most likely, this home was a tragic crime scene.
Seeing Yin Ren still standing at the doorway, Zhong Chengshuo said, “You have special abilities. I don’t know if you can get used to it. If you really can’t stand it…”
“It’s fine. I just didn’t expect your house to be in this kind of style.”
How could he not stand it? Yin Ren wiped his face. From the moment he moved in, he was the strongest murderous presence in this home.
“I originally wanted to move my parents in to live together.” Zhong Chengshuo spoke as he hung his coat next to the ghost, whose bloodshot eyes kept following him. “They couldn’t bear leaving their old neighbors, so they were reluctant to move. Because of that… Well, I moved here first.”
“I understand.” Yin Ren glanced at the ghost from the corner of his eyes.
For some reason, when it came to this topic, the ghost suddenly exuded a strong sense of helplessness.
She turned her head and stared at the two of them for a while, but seeing that Yin Ren had no obvious reaction, she bitterly floated through the wall and left.
“This is your room. Let me know if you’re missing anything,” Zhong Chengshuo said as he opened the door.
The bedroom that Zhong Chengshuo had prepared for him wasn’t small. It was clean and warm, and there was even a vase full of fresh flowers on the table. The room had a separate bathroom, and the carpet in the room was exceptionally soft.
The large furniture in the room showed no signs of being used. This was probably the parents’ room that Zhong Chengshuo originally reserved for them.
The only catch was that this bedroom window faced the atrium, so it was exceptionally quiet. Yin Ren reluctantly glanced at the floor-to-ceiling windows of the living room, where the lights from outside were bright, creating a lively atmosphere.
The fabric sofa was wide and soft, so it was comfortable to lie on.
“Let’s go to the living room.”
Zhong Chengshuo hesitated for a bit before saying, “…Okay.”
Yin Ren got what he wanted as he stretched himself out on the sofa. “You’re the owner of the house, so is there anything I need to pay attention to?”
Zhong Chengshuo silently pointed to the decorative painting at the entrance. Only then did Yin Ren find out that this guy had even written down the covenants and hung them at the door—not to mention the handwriting was quite beautiful and it was even encased in a picture frame.
[“Co-living Agreement”]
[1. Division of housework: Zhong Chengshuo is responsible for shopping, cooking, and cleaning the room; Yin Ren is responsible for washing dishes and taking out the trash.]
[2. Daily expenses: Zhong Chengshuo is responsible for the expenses of food, water, electricity, and other daily expenses; Yin Ren is responsible for takeout, online shopping, and other activities done by the individual.]
[3. Precautions: put garbage in the trash cans, put dirty clothes in the laundry bin, clean the bathroom consciously after showering; please do not make loud noises after 23:00, please do not enter the private space of others without permission, and please do not eat strong-smelling food in public areas (including, but not limited to, durian, luosifen, stinky tofu, canned hearing, ect.)]
Yin Ren was silent. He thought that with Zhong Chengshuo’s character, he would come up with strange rules, but he didn’t expect them to be so loose. Well, there were a few things he cared about very much…
Yin Ren excitedly asked, “What’s takeout and online shopping?”
And he hadn’t tried any of the strong-smelling foods mentioned.
Zhong Chengshuo seemed to instinctively become aware of something, and his expression stiffened as he quickly tried changing the subject. “…We’ll talk about that later. Also, don’t move the things on the bookcase in the living room casually. I’ll put commonly used daily necessities outside.”
Only then did Yin Ren notice the bookcase.
He and Zhong Chengshuo stared at each other until the latter finally gave in. Zhong Chengshuo opened the cabinet slowly as his gaze became evasive.
The entire bookcase was exposed in front of Yin Ren’s eyes.
There were all kinds of books. Two-thirds of them were academic-related large books, which were interspersed with a number of history books, and the rest looked like novels. The books had traces that they’d been flipped through, so they weren’t just used for show.
The focus was on the inside cabinet door—it was full of SD cards and various discs, as well as two small boxes labeled PlayStation and Switch. From a glance, it was clear they were well organized by Zhong Chengshuo.
Zhong Chengshuo cautiously blocked half the front of the cabinet. “They are games and television-related things and are very fragile.”
Seeing Yin Ren’s eyes getting brighter, light traces of sweat started to form on Zhong Chengshuo’s forehead. He quickly shut the cabinet door. “These are all collections, and there’s a more convenient way to watch—what movie do you want to watch? You can use my tablet to log into my account.”
“Is there any that has humans fighting monsters?” Yin Ren’s attention was instantly drawn away.
Shian’s lounge was full of mild emotional films. He wanted to watch something practical, at least to get an idea of the public’s thoughts and reactions to monsters.
Zhong Chengshuo rushed to his bedroom, shut the door for a while, then ran out with a tablet.
There was a note attached to the back that specifically listed the recommended viewing order for series like <Godzilla> and <Alien>. Next to the tablet was a headphone case that exuded a faint smell of alcohol.
“I’m going to sleep. If you want to watch, please use the headphones.”
Zhong Chengshuo bent down in front of Yin Ren and stretched out his hand.
He held his breath, gently brushed away Yin Ren’s hair, and carefully put on the left earphone for Yin Ren. Zhong Chengshuo’s fingertips were warm. He lightly stroked Yin Ren’s ears, causing his long hair to shake lightly.
He didn’t seem to like the idea of skin-to-skin contact, as his movements were too cautious, as if Yin Ren were some kind of snow statue that would break at first touch.
Zhong Chengshuo’s face was so close that Yin Ren couldn’t help but look into those dark eyes. At this distance, he could hear the other party’s somewhat fast heartbeat—looking at the man’s taut face, it was probably due to tension.
“Don’t worry. I won’t touch your treasures casually,” Yin Ren thoughtfully stated. “If there’s something I don’t understand or am curious about, I’ll definitely go to you first.”
He also wanted to tell Zhong Chengshuo that this “harmless partner” worked for a long time and didn’t intend to dwell on such trivial matters.
Zhong Chengshuo pursed his lips. “Thank you for your understanding.”
“So, what exactly are takeout and online shopping?” Yin Ren asked with enthusiasm.
……
2:00 a.m.
Zhong Chengshuo had shown Yin Ren how to register, and by the time he finished explaining how to use the food delivery app, it was already close to 1:00 a.m. He yawned and went to bed, not forgetting to close his bedroom door.
Yin Ren was lying on the sofa while watching a movie.
In order to ensure a comfortable posture, he specially grew a bony ghost hand to fix the tablet in front of his face. His black hair was floating midair, transforming into a mercury-like texture, and covered the takeout he had bought.
After all, given his current posture, it wasn’t good for eating, so Yin Ren didn’t mind using another mouth to eat.
Not wanting to disturb the sleeping Zhong Chengshuo, Yin Ren turned off the lights in the living room, which made the splendid lights outside the floor-to-ceiling windows even more conspicuous. With the window slightly open, the breeze swayed the plants inside.
The scenery around him was peaceful and quiet, while what was shown on the small screen was thrilling. Yin Ren relaxed his entire body and stared at the tablet without even blinking.
In the corner, where the moonlight didn’t shine, a pool of dark blood oozed from the wall. As the bloodstain expanded, a human head slowly surfaced.
It was the ghost just now. She had appeared in the corner again. The ghost leaned half her body out, looked around with a bloodied face, and locked her gaze on Yin Ren.
Then she let out a shrill scream that ripped the clouds apart.
The scream pierced Yin Ren’s ears through the headphones. He was at the high point of the movie. At the climax, he was shocked by the scream and saw a ghostly hand slip down in front of him, causing him to smack the plate, sending it flying into his face. The hair that was gnawing on the duck’s neck almost choked on the bone.
“What are you—?!” The ghost suddenly moved back a few steps and shivered as she pointed to Yin Ren’s ghost hand and hair.
She even glanced at Zhong Chengshuo’s bedroom as if she wanted to rush in and complain.
The ghost even had the ability to speak, which was exceptional among evil creatures, but unfortunately, she met the wrong opponent.
Yin Ren unhappily moved the tablet away and removed his headphones. He carefully lowered his voice. “Miss, I’m trying to watch a movie.”
Yin Ren took out his work ID from under the cushion and shook it at the female ghost. “What a coincidence. So am I.”
Since Zhong Chengshuo was a living human, it was good to be cautious, but for ghosts that could go through walls, Yin Ren could tighten his guard if he really wanted to hide. He could pretend to be perfect, but just because he wanted to stay in Shian didn’t mean he wanted to constantly live in fear.
It was better to just “greet” this ghost in advance.
The world in the eyes of evil beings was usually distorted, so their testimony was difficult to take seriously. Evil beings hardly even communicated with each other, let alone doing things like gossip. Yin Ren wasn’t worried about this ghost leaking secrets.
Sure enough, when she saw his work ID, the female ghost became silent.
After a while, the fierce ghost changed into pajamas, reverted her face back to normal, and her dirty hair became clean. She twirled her hair and continued to hide in the corner. “Who are you to Zhong Chengshuo?”
This was probably the ghost’s friendly mode. In this way, except for her pale skin, she looked like a normal woman who was about 26–27 years old.
“I’m his colleague. Who are you?” Yin Ren asked curiously.
He had just watched <Ghost> at Shian and wondered if he had bumped into the real-life version.
“This house used to be mine. It’s all bad luck, so let’s not mention it.” The ghost clicked her tongue loudly.
“I just have nothing to do in my spare time. When I heard someone was moving in, I stopped to take a look—anyway, that kid, surnamed Zhong, can’t see me. I just usually, ahem, stop by to watch movies and dramas.”
Yin Ren: “…” He felt there was some underlying connotation to this.
“Yin Ren, right? It’s good you’re from Shian.” The female ghost was still talking. “My name is Hu Tao. I’m a ghost that’s bound here. Now, I live in the empty home next door…”
“Isn’t this your house?”
“Why would I live with a stranger who’s a single man? How inconvenient.” Hu Tao snorted. “My life is gone, but that doesn’t mean I can’t still be particular.”
Although the ghost was powerful, she seemed relatively sober. Yin Ren didn’t know if Shian had used some means on her.
Yin Ren stood up while lost in thought and went to the refrigerator to grab a drink.
Zhong Chengshuo had already cleaned up the fridge in advance, putting the fruit drinks on a separate layer, and then dividing them neatly into two sections. Yin Ren grabbed a bottle of sugar-free yogurt drink, took a sip, and wrinkled his face in sourness.
He glanced around and saw an apple on the table.
The apple was bright and red, with a regular outline and no damage to the skin. It was placed in a white porcelain dish that sat against the wall, and it exuded a unique, sweet aroma of apples.
Although there were lots of apples in the fridge, Yin Ren didn’t bother to open it again and instead stretched out his hand at the table…
“I suggest you leave that alone,” Hu Tao said.
Yin Ren’s hand stopped in midair.
“Zhong Chengshuo always puts an apple here and changes it every day. It’s weird,” the ghost commented affectionately. “He seems to take the matter very seriously. You’d better eat the ones in the fridge.”
“Is this… an offering?” This was Yin Ren’s first reaction, but this wasn’t something someone like Zhong Chengshuo would do, so he was a little surprised.
“Who knows. I’m the strongest in this community, but it’s not for me. I don’t get him at all.” Hu Tao looked at the red apple greedily. “Ugh, I also want to eat it too.”
Yin Ren took another apple from the fridge and was holding it in his mouth. Hu Tao looked away in pain. “Okay, I’ll leave first. Since you can see me, I’ll knock on the wall first next time I come.”
With that, the ghost Hu Tao shrank into the wall, leaving half of her head exposed.
“Oh, yes. When you watch a TV show, remember to knock on the wall and call me—”
Yin Ren waved his hand and agreed.
He returned to the sofa and continued to watch his movie.
……
Early the next morning.
Zhong Chengshuo finished washing up and opened the bedroom door, as if he suspected an enemy was on the other side.
He took away the apple from the table and replaced it with a fresh one. After completing all this, Zhong Chengshuo held the apple in his left hand and a sharp fruit knife in his right hand and stopped two steps away from the sofa.
As he expected, Yin Ren didn’t go back to his room honestly—the man was sleeping on the sofa, wrapped in a thin blanket; his long hair draped over it, almost touching the floor.
But there were also things he hadn’t expected.
It was clear that Yin Ren had ordered takeout last night. Zhong Chengshuo recognized the bags from the nearby braised duck and skewers shop, but they were all neatly packed up.
There were no leftovers on the table, no suspicious oil stains or crumbs, and the room didn’t smell too bad. The finished skewers and bones were tied up in plastic bags and put away in the takeout bags, and the empty drink cans were neatly organized. Even Yin Ren’s socks were folded up and placed in one of the slippers.
The tablet was tightly hugged in Yin Ren’s arms. It was clear that he was very satisfied with his movie night.
Zhong Chengshuo approached lightly, slowly pulled out the tablet, and placed it on the small table by the sofa. Yin Ren smacked his lips and turned over lazily.
The curtains weren’t drawn, so the early morning sunlight slanted into the room, illuminating the tips of Yin Ren’s hair. The light white blanket reflected off the yellow color, making it appear extra soft.
Zhong Chengshuo’s movements stagnated.
As Yin Ren turned over, a vague smell emanated from his body. The smell didn’t belong to the house, but it smelled good, like fine, fragrant wood that could only be found in high-end stores.
Zhong Chengshuo got closer, leaned down, and lightly sniffed.
It wasn’t his illusion.
Zhong Chengshuo tilted his head and looked at Yin Ren for a while. During this period, his slender fingers on his right hand moved unconsciously, turning the knife several times between his fingers.
“Yin Ren.” After standing quietly for a few minutes, Zhong Chengshuo took a few steps back and suddenly spoke.
Lord Ghost King was bleary-eyed. “…Hm?”
“Do you want to eat boiled corn or steamed stuffed buns?”
Yin Ren sat upright. “What kind of stuffed buns?”
“Pork and green onions, or lamb and carrots, with boiled eggs, soy milk, and apples.” With a snap, Zhong Chengshuo cut the apple in half.
“Lamb and carrots!” Yin Ren stated happily and rushed into the bathroom to wash up.
Zhong Chengshuo picked up the apron on the hanger. The brown apron had the words “Dangerous Person” printed on it and looked clean without even a single wrinkle.
“Movie…” Zhong Chengshuo tied his apron as he spoke. “How was the movie last night?”
“I found a few to watch, but they were all pretty similar.” Yin Ren’s answer was muffled as he was brushing his teeth. “The monster doesn’t consider the subsequent quality of life, runs to the human side to wreak havoc, and then the main characters achieve family, love, or friendship. Haa, how uneconomical.”
“I see.”
“I like <Alien> the most,” Yin Ren said.
“Why?”
“……”
Yin Ren was silent for a moment before he spat out the foam in his mouth. He raised his head and looked at himself in the mirror.
“Because it knows that camouflage and concealment are the most effective when it hasn’t grown up yet.”
Zhong Chengshuo didn’t reply.
In the midst of the silence, the ringtones of two cellphones sounded simultaneously.
The author has something to say:
I didn’t mean to say that the Godzilla series isn’t good—_(:з”∠)_
Congratulations to Comrade Xiao Yin for acquiring “takeout” and “online shopping”, the two strongest skills of modern people!
Xiao Zhong: Don’t order luosifen. Please don’t order luosifen—
Kinky Thoughts:
My thoughts when Yin Ren looked at the apple was… is he going to eat a fake apple?
For those who didn’t get the reference of why Yin Ren said he likes Alien best… Well, you can read the Wikipedia for the movies to get the plot (the first movie is good enough and also contains a very infamous scene). Warning, it’s bloody and gory.
Fu Xingchuan returned to the office half-dead and fell face down on the sofa.
“You suspended tracking on the Evil Spirit?” Smelling the smell of smoke, Professor Li opened the window.
“Well, it’s been a week, and we found no trace of it. We still have to investigate, but we’re pulling back the manpower.” Fu Xingchuan turned his head with difficulty. “Eh, your screen…”
Minister Fu’s eyes were good. He was able to read the words “Files of Death Row Prisoners in Haigu” on Professor Li’s phone screen.
The page stopped at a photo of a man and woman.
They were upright-looking, both under 30. Compared with the other prisoners’ sluggish and sinister look, those two people in the photo looked quite relaxed; they were smiling softly and casually.
“Haa, why did you suddenly think of this? What about checking on the newcomer’s household registry?”
“I’m just looking at the information on file. Strictly speaking, Zhong Chengshuo said it was not in their household registry.” Professor Li closed the archives. “His biological parents were captured by his adoptive parents. I don’t know how much Zhong Chengshuo knows.”
The infamous serial killers, Wei Huaxian and Kong Miao, were executed according to the law more than 20 years ago.
The two were lovers. They were cunning and acted with extreme cruelty, and their bad influence was widespread. They were finally captured when Kong Miao made a mistake during the cooperation between the two due to recently giving birth. According to the records from the Haigu Public Security Bureau, in this case, Cheng Xuehua, the former chief of the Haigu Criminal Police Division, and Zhong Youde, the former deputy captain, made great contributions.
“Xiao Zhong shouldn’t have access to this file.” Fu Xingchuan yawned. “I’ve also interrogated that at the beginning. Xiao Zhong respects his adoptive parents. There’s no doubt about this.”
“Well, I’m just a little curious.”
At the same time, in Xizhao District, Zhong Chengshuo’s parents’ home.
An old lady carried a large pot of stewed meat and potatoes to the table. There were braised trotters, steamed beer, and sweet and sour fish already on the dining table. Small dishes like scrambled eggs with leeks and stuffed lotus roots were there as well. The dining room wasn’t large, and the aroma of home-cooked food filled the area.
In the kitchen, an old man was still busy over a stove. The lid on the pot on top of the stove was gurgling as if it would boil over at any moment.
Zhong Chengshuo stood still in the kitchen like a decoration.
“Dad, why don’t I come help?” He asked carefully.
“Fuck off. You know shit. There’s no oil and sauce in any of your dishes.” The old man’s voice was like a great bell. “Thirty years, Zhong Chengshuo! Did you know that if you bring friends over, your father has to show off?”
“But I’m not even 30 years old…”
“Ah, you’re picking a fight with your father?” Zhong Youde’s eyes widened. “Okay, okay. I remember that you have a light taste. I’ll make you something clear later.”
Zhong Chengshuo’s entire body was silent, as if he were frozen solid. He continued to stand in the kitchen while handling the plates from time to time.
At the table, even though the food in front of him was full of delicacies, Yin Ren also didn’t dare move either. He tried to stand up to help, but Zhong Chengshuo’s mother pushed him back to the chair.
The old lady was sitting opposite of him. Right now, it looked as if he was being interrogated with some kind of weird enthusiasm. If it weren’t for the old lady’s lack of killing intent, Yin Ren thought he would be skinned alive just by her eyes.
“Are you two colleagues?” Cheng Xuehua’s gaze was burning.
“Yes, we entered about the same time in Shian,” Yin Ren obediently answered.
“How long have you two known each other?”
“About a week.”
“A week and you’re already living together?” The old lady’s tone was deep.
Yin Ren: “…The company requires it.”
This was really a requirement of Shian’s. In order to facilitate operations, the core partners of each investigation team had to live together. They could live in Shian’s dorm for free, but they were both reluctant.
Although Yin Ren liked Shian, he didn’t really want to live under their noses all the time. Zhong Chengshuo said he had a house in Xizhao District, so he thought that was a more convenient place.
Fang Yuanyuan responded to this by saying, “In this case, the company also has relevant plans. You can choose to live in your own residence, but Yin Ren also needs to move in.”
Zhong Chengshuo said blankly, “Ah, this is a bit…”
Fang Yuanyuan: “During Yin Ren’s stay, Shian will give you a monthly co-living subsidy of 10,000 yuan.”
Zhong Chengshuo: “Okay, I understand. I’ll go back tonight and clean up.”
Thus, Yin Ren, who was temporarily “homeless”, was led to Zhong Chengshuo’s parents’ home. Yin Ren was still suffering from amnesia and couldn’t be left alone, and Zhong Chengshuo’s parents were not far from his residence.
According to the plan, Zhong Chengshuo would prepare his room while Yin Ren was guided by the two elders to prepare his daily necessities, then he would move into Zhong Chengshuo’s residence in the evening.
This plan shouldn’t have included such a big meal. For those not in the know, they would think that the Zhong family was celebrating New Year’s in advance.
Seeing that the old lady was silent, Yin Ren quickly added, “Chengshuo and I need to go into the field often, so living together saves time.”
He didn’t know why, but the old lady’s expression became subtly disappointed.
“Field? Then you two better pay attention to safety,” she said sadly. “It’s okay to come and play often. Auntie and uncle always welcome it.”
“Of course.”
“Hey, hey, do you guys move around a lot in this position?”
“Not often. As long as Zhong Chengshuo doesn’t change jobs, we’ll always be partners.” Yin Ren made sure of that.
“That’s good. Here, Xiao Yin, join this group. It’ll make it convenient to contact in normal times.”
Yin Ren obediently scanned the code to join the group and then looked dumbfounded…
[Love Each Other Like Family (5)]
Yin Ren: “…” Is this appropriate? Isn’t Zhong Chengshuo’s parents being too enthusiastic towards a new colleague?
The old lady seemed to have read his mind as she sighed to herself. “Xiao Zhong isn’t stupid, but he hasn’t had many friends since he was a child. Young man, you don’t know, but this is the first time he has brought a living adult back with him.”
Lord Ghost King was speechless for a moment.
Little miss, you don’t know, but I’m neither considered living nor human, so the truth will only disappoint you.
The old lady was still chattering on. “My son has no bad intentions, but he’s just too stubborn and can’t behave. Xiao Yin, take care of yourself. If he gets out of line, Auntie will scold him for you!”
Yin Ren smiled awkwardly. “Okay, will do, Auntie. Don’t worry, we got along fine before.”
The old lady then left the table feeling satisfied.
Yin Ren breathed a sigh of relief and clicked on the group chat he had just been added to. Together with him, there were five members of the group. Except for Zhong Chengshuo, who Yin Ren was familiar with, there were three other accounts he didn’t recognize.
One had an avatar of the calligraphy character “德*” and was named “Lao Zhong”. This was probably Zhong Chengshuo’s father.
*Virtue.
Another had an avatar of an enlarged snowflake with the name “Peace is a Blessing”… It was probably that sharp-eyed lady just now.
The remaining one didn’t look like it belonged to the elderly.
It was an avatar of an orange with human eyes and mouth, and the expression looked subtly annoying. The name next to it was “Fear The Maple”. Yin Ren clicked on the avatar and took a closer look. The owner of the account was a woman, and her personal signature showed: “Let’s go and get rid of evildoers*!”
*(为民除害) Idiom referring to eradicating disasters for the common people.
Perhaps this was Zhong Chengfeng, the sister who had “passed away a long time ago” that Zhong Chengshuo told him about.
Yin Ren silently closed WeChat and continued to contemplate at the table.
Zhong Chengshuo’s father was a man of his word. Even though the table was full of meat and fish, he cooked two extra dishes, one vegetarian and one meat, for Zhong Chengshuo. Zhong Chengshuo sat down next to Yin Ren with a strange vigilance on his face.
Even when he was facing Gao Mengyu’s “cat”, Zhong Chengshuo had never had such an expression.
Was it possible that this family had other secrets? Yin Ren became nervous. He politely declined Zhong Youde’s invitation to “have a drink together” and his chopsticks were more reserved than usual. He only dared to pick up small pieces of vegetables.
But the Zhong family didn’t let him off.
“Look at Xiao Yin. He’s so polite and speaks so well. It’s obvious he’s well educated,” Zhong Youde praised loudly.
“Yes, he’s so handsome too. I have seen many people, but I have never seen someone as handsome as him,” The old lady—Cheng Xuehua—sincerely lamented.
Zhong Chengshuo glanced at the two old people and wanted to say something.
Cheng Xuehua ignored her son. “Xiao Yin, do you have any brothers or sisters that you can introduce to our Xiao Zhong?”
Zhong Chengshuo wrinkled his face. “Mom…”
“Uh, I’m the only one in my family.” Yin Ren’s smile twitched a little.
He really had no younger siblings. There were a few “older siblings” that were well classified by Shian, but he was afraid that was something Zhong Chengshuo wouldn’t want to know… Wait, why was there a “brother” in her words just now?
Seeing Yin Ren’s natural performance, Cheng Xuehua continued to speak, “Auntie is just asking. Are you single? Do you like men or women?”
“Mom—?!”
Yin Ren: “…” Okay. Now he understood. No wonder Zhong Chengshuo was so nervous just now.
“Mom what? Your father and I are about to be buried six feet underground. Can’t we worry about you?” Cheng Xuehua snorted angrily.
Then she turned to Yin Ren and spoke like a spring breeze. “Xiao Yin, don’t take it personally. Auntie is just making a joke. After all, this kid isn’t enlightened. There are only three basic requirements—they’re alive, of legal age to marry, and younger than us.”
In fact, he only fulfilled “of legal age to marry”, but this was something that outsiders weren’t privy to. Yin Ren laughed awkwardly and changed the subject. “I don’t mind. Ah, Uncle, your ribs are delicious…”
The two old interrogators were in good spirits and soon the atmosphere became harmonious. Zhong Chengshuo almost won the “most misfit” award.
Fortunately, Zhong Chengshuo ate steadily and quickly and decisively ended the battle. “I’ll go back and clean up the house.”
Zhong Youde: “Okay. Do you have enough blankets and towels? Why don’t you bring some from home?”
“I have enough,” Zhong Chengshuo answered and quickly fled.
The old lady rolled her eyes, but there was a smile in her tone. “Look at him. I don’t know who he takes after.”
Yin Ren didn’t dare to eat more. He only symbolically added a bowl of rice, then quickly rushed into the kitchen to wash the dishes. If he hadn’t tried his best to stop them, Zhong Chengshuo’s parents would have dragged him to the supermarket to make some big purchases.
The two of them chatted while packing things. Zhong Youde sighed several times. “We don’t mind if Zhong Chengshuo finds a man, as long as he likes him.” …It could be seen that the old couple was heartbroken thinking that “Zheng Chengshuo would be alone”.
The old woman was too imposing, and her eyes were too sharp. Yin Ren didn’t dare relax for even a moment, lest he reveal something that shouldn’t be exposed.
It was no wonder Zhong Chengshuo moved out, Yin Ren thought helplessly. If he knew about this in advance, he would have fought to help clean the house with Zhong Chengshuo. In all senses, this place had put him in dire straits.
He didn’t know if his helplessness was felt by the heavens as his phone suddenly vibrated.
[Final Fruit: Good luck 🙂]
[Fruit Knife: …How long do you need to clean up? What the hell are you cleaning up for?!]
[Final Fruit: To prepare your room.]
[Fruit Knife: Brother, hurry up. Your parents are too powerful. You don’t need to prepare another room if you linger any longer. By that time, I’ll have to get a marriage certificate with you, yes?]
[Final Fruit: I know 💔]
Zhong Chengshuo let out a long sigh and put the phone back in his pocket.
He wasn’t at his residence but was standing in front of an old building with a heavy black leather bag. The building’s red bricks were full of holes, the walls were covered with overgrown roots, and the door was rusted and had countless scratches on it.
This was a private warehouse in the old town, so most of the nearby facilities were dilapidated. The few surveillance cameras that were there were mainly just for decorations, as they were broken 364 out of the 365 days.
Zhong Chengshuo entered the warehouse with ease and opened a secret door leading underground.
The room was about forty square meters on the ground floor. It had no windows, and it was pitch black inside. Zhong Chengshuo pressed a switch, causing the darkness to dissipate like a receding tide and the contents to be revealed like a reef.
Though the light in the room wasn’t bright, it was enough to see an overview.
On both sides of the ring were multi-layer shelves. Stainless steel round cans the size of a person’s head were neatly placed on them. Each had a handwritten label on it, and it was roughly estimated that there were about 50 of them. There was a long table in the middle of the room with a computer and an office chair—two spare chairs were stacked in the corner next to a sofa and refrigerator.
The wall facing the door was probably the liveliest part of the room.
The wall was covered with whiteboards, on which countless reports, articles, and photos were hung. They were connected by a red thread, making the wall look as if it was covered with a red spiderweb.
In the corner of the “spiderweb”, a newspaper clipping was immersed in the shadows.
“The Case of the Extraordinary Serial Killers in Haigu”.
Below the headline, the young faces of two serial killers were shown.
The author has something to say:
Hee hee (?
Xiao Zhong grew up in a healthy family, to the point of being too healthy (x
Xiao Zhong: I can guarantee that my partner has reached the legal age of marriage. Other things… are not guaranteed…
The weather during the change of seasons was always strange.
For example, when he left home in the morning, the sky was still clear, but it started pouring on the way home. This kind of thing was common.
In front of the long convoy blocking the city, Xing Conglian knocked on the window next to the driver’s seat with irritability. The window was covered with fog, and there was an endless electronic sound of a mobile game playing in his ears. The rain was still falling, and there was no sign of it stopping.
“Can’t you stop for a while?” Xing Conglian turned his head and spoke impatiently to the teenager sitting in the front passenger seat.
“Can’t you smoke less?” Wang Chao only raised his eyes and glanced at the cigarette in Xing Conglian’s hand, then responded back disdainfully.
Xing Conglian was about to explode, but he tried his best to tell himself not to care about the words of a rebellious teenager.
He took a deep breath and followed the self-regulation method Lin Chen had taught him.
Inhale… Exhale…
Then he smacked Wang Chao’s head.
“Ow! Child abuse!”
The teenager’s scream was mixed with the electronic sounds coming from his mobile game, echoing in the car.
On the way home from work, everything was irritating without Lin Chen…
Xing Conglian pressed the car radio, and gentle piano music flowed out. He unbuttoned his collar, rolled up the cuffs of his shirt, and lowered the car window a little, ready to let the music soothe his irritable emotions.
But soon, specifically at the moment when the red light in front turned green, the soft piano sound suddenly turned into raging rock music. The drums and roars were deafening, startling Xing Conglian. A feeling of hot steam rushed up the back of his neck to the top of his head. He hurriedly glanced at the car audio. Fortunately, the audio didn’t explode. He studied the broadcast and the control panel and found there were no issues. Just when he wanted to summon Wang Chao to check out the problem, he found that Wang Chao’s phone had been plugged into the car audio at some point, and the initiator himself, at this moment, was bouncing up and down to the grungy music at high volume.
Xing Conglian took a deep breath again…
Then he silently unplugged the cable.
Wang Chao suddenly settled down and continued to stare at him with a look that said, “Bro, what the hell are you doing?”
Xing Conglian didn’t want to use violence too often, so as an adult, he could only look away.
Naturally, the tastes in music of an older man and a teenager were usually vastly different, but usually this kind of contradiction could be reconciled. For example, Lin Chen would choose songs that suited Xing Conglian’s taste from the cloud song list. Sometimes it was light music, and sometimes it was Cantonese. Lin Chen’s taste was always good, so Xing Conglian naturally didn’t have any objections.
If Wang Chao got impatient after listening for a while and started to make noise, at that time, Lin Chen would plug in the audio cable on Wang Chao’s phone, turn down the volume, and then accompany Xing Conglian to talk.
Xing Conglian discovered that, in the end, the reason for his irritability now was that no one was talking to him while he was driving.
Should he propose that Lin Chen take fewer days of sick leave…?
He thought this silently, and from the corner of his eyes, he saw Wang Chao’s hand still secretly reaching for the connection wire.
Then there was a crisp sound.
In the next second, the bold brat finally shrank back to his seat with his hands covering his head and began to whine until his heart felt a bit better.
“Mr. Xing, do you know doing this makes it look like you’re having a manic episode?!” Wang Chao hid in the corner as he yelled at Xing Conglian.
“Your brother A’Chen should know best whether I’m manic or not.”
“Is that how you’re addressing him now?”
“What’s wrong with that?”
“You’re shameless!”
“Not only can I call him A’Chen, I can also call him Chen. Can you?”
“Chen, Chen, Chen, Chen, Chen, Chen!”
“Wang Chao, how old are you? So childish. Do you have the guts to go to your brother A’Chen and call him that?”
“Xing Conglian, I’m 18 this year and past the age where I would be so violently brain-dead!”
“Then why haven’t you passed the age of rubbing against your guardian’s car every day?”
“Because the word guardian is already past tense. I’m rubbing against my boss’ car. Do you have any comments?”
“As a democratic and considerate boss, I don’t have any complaints about dropping off my subordinate on the way home, but I also hope that my subordinates will be conscious of being a passenger in my car and don’t always provoke their boss.”
“But we’re all in this car. Why should we listen to songs that only you want to hear?”
“Because this is laozi’s car. If you don’t want to sit in this car, go and walk.”
In the end, any quarrel between him and Wang Chao would always come down to who had the money and who was the boss.
Tsk. It’s not bad to be rich. After all, you can buy a car.
Xing Conglian turned the steering wheel and finally saw the parking lot outside of Yanjia Lane.
“Captain, you sure have a shitty car. Did you remember to bring an umbrella?”
Suddenly, the annoying kid sitting in the front passenger seat began to make noise again.
Xing Conglian recalled for a while. It seemed that, because of the rain yesterday, they took out the umbrellas with them when he got out of the car. It looked sunny this morning, and Lin Chen was still sleeping, so no one reminded them to bring an umbrella.
In the end, it was because Lin Chen didn’t remind him that they forgot to bring their umbrellas.
“Why didn’t you remember to bring it?” Xing Conglian questioned.
“Because it’s like this. The clothes I’m wearing are waterproof, and I wear hats so I can just rush home in three minutes without fear of rain,” Wang Chao said as he pulled out a cap from his backpack and put it on. He then pointed to his backpack and said, “The backpack is also waterproof. It’s quite high-end, no? Unlike some people who have to live in a house deep in an old alley. What’s the use of having a garden when you can’t even drive the car to the door…”
Xing Conglian continued taking deep breaths. After all, beating a child wasn’t an honorable thing. He had to restrain himself…
He controlled his hand, patiently followed the queue of cars forward, and finally drove into the parking lot. When the railing of the car was raised, he suddenly saw someone waiting under the willow tree by the parking lot.
Lin Chen was wearing home clothes and had a simple coat on, holding a black umbrella while waiting for them in the rain.
This was a very strange feeling, but the moment he saw Lin Chen, he suddenly felt as if there was a sudden wind in the air or someone had breathed into his heart, and all the irritability in it had suddenly disappeared.
Even Wang Chao suddenly stopped talking.
He pulled the car up to the parking space as Lin Chen walked towards them with an umbrella.
Before Xing Conglian could stop the car, the annoying kid sitting in the front passenger seat unbuckled his seatbelt, opened the door, and rushed out.
“A’Chen, A’Chen, A’Chen, why are you here? Have you been waiting for a long time? I have already scolded the captain for you. Who made him drive so slowly? Older men are so useless!”
The teenager’s voice was loud and clear, and it echoed through the parking lot. Xing Conglian had just lowered the car window and was about to greet Lin Chen.
Lin Chen patted the boy’s black hair and moved the umbrella over, then glanced up at Xing Conglian and said, “Don’t just say all older men are useless.”
Tsk. As expected of Lin Chen. He’s really good at educating children.
Hearing this, Xing Conglian pulled the handbrake with satisfaction, opened the door, and got out of the car.
“How long have you been waiting? Why didn’t you call me?”
Xing Conglian stretched out his hand and took the umbrella that Lin Chen handed over, then opened it.
“Not long. I checked the traffic conditions in advance and calculated the time you would get here.”
Because of his hand injury, Lin Chen could only walk on the outermost side, while Wang Chao held the umbrella for him while blocking the middle.
“A’Chen, you’re so smart, unlike the Captain!”
After hearing what Lin Chen said, that brat Wang Chao quickly and doggedly flattered him and stole his lines.
Xing Conglian held the handle of the umbrella and walked a little further away from them, then looked back at Lin Chen.
However, Lin Chen didn’t continue the conversation and instead glanced at him curiously, then asked Wang Chao, “What happened on the way?”
“Nothing much. It’s just that the Captain kept hitting me and threatened to kick me out of the car and walk!”
“Hey, are you the villain who sues his victim first*?”
*(恶人先告状) Proverb referring to a bad person being the first to tell or distort the facts.
“I’m young. Don’t you think I should be?”
“Wang Chao, although you grew up abroad, the traditional virtue of Chinese culture is to respect your elders and cherish the young. Let me emphasize, you need to respect your elders!”
“So you’re finally admitting that you’re old!”
Why were children like this nowadays? It made it impossible for him not to beat them!
Xing Conglian curled his fingers and was about to smack Wang Chao in the head, but suddenly realized that the person walking beside him had changed to Lin Chen, or that he had subconsciously walked to Lin Chen’s side and held his umbrella for him at some point.
“Proper quarrels help cultivate feelings.” Lin Chen raised his brows and said, “It’s quite interesting watching you two. You guys continue. Don’t mind me.”
Obviously, he didn’t intend to stop them, but after Lin Chen finished speaking, Wang Chao shut up. He glanced at Lin Chen cautiously, and his eyes flickered.
The surrounding area became quiet in an instant, with only the sound of raindrops splashing on the umbrella. The alley became tranquil, giving off a calm vibe as if there were a sweet aroma.
Xing Conglian didn’t want to talk anymore.
“A’Chen, what are we having for dinner?”
Finally, Wang Chao seemed to have thought about something for a long time and then suddenly found something to talk about and spoke up.
Xing Conglian finally caught the opportunity and smacked him. “Can’t you cook? Your brother A’Chen still has a cast on his hand. Do you still want him to cook for you? How useful you are!”
“Aren’t you the same?” Wang Chao retorted.
Lin Chen sighed almost inaudibly and asked, “What about Chen Ji fried noodles?”
“No good.” Wang Chao and Xing Conglian spoke in unison this time.
“Or Auntie Zhou’s wontons?”
“If I eat Auntie Zhou’s takeout again, it’ll be the 117th time I’ve eaten at Auntie Zhou!” Wang Chao moaned.
“What about Master Kang’s braised beef noodles? That’s a classic.”
“I finished the last bag last night.” Xing Conglian silently raised his hands.
“Then what to do?”
“A new shopping mall has opened in the CBD. A’Chen, shall we go there and get something to eat?” When Wang Chao said this, his eyes lit up. “Captain, swipe your card!”
“Per capita can’t exceed 100. I took a few days off this month, so my salary is a bit low,” Xing Conglian said bitterly.
“In the end, you were sent to the hospital by him?” Su Fengzi laid on the hospital bed and yawned as he asked Lin Chen. Lin Chen felt as if Su Fengzi was about to roll his eyes to express his disdain.
“Yes.”
Looking at his friend, who was injured and had to stay overnight, Lin Chen avoided his gaze at the injured hand.
Just a moment ago, after finishing his ideological education on Jiang Chao, Xing Conglian ordered Jiang Chao’s officers to take him to the hospital in order to have his hand re-examined. It seemed that Xing Conglian didn’t believe the excuse about the orthopedic professor.
While Lin Chen went, Xing Conglian and Wang Chao stayed behind at the scene to deal with the follow-ups.
“In other words, just because the live broadcast screen lit up again, you have been making a fuss all this time and now just came to the hospital to visit me?” Su Fengzi was clearly dissatisfied, as he said this in an aggravated tone.
“Your injuries aren’t even a big deal. Do you have to be so plaintive?” Lin Chen looked up at the clock on the wall. It was only past nine. Ignoring the time he spent with Xing Conglian, there was still an hour left before visitation ended.
“How can you say it’s not a big deal. If you don’t come, who will peel apples for me?” Su Fengzi crossed his long legs and pressed the remote control in his hand. He changed the channel and then put the remote control down again, then took an apple from the bedside table and handed it to Lin Chen. “You weren’t like this before.”
Lin Chen wasn’t sure if it was because of his injuries or because he came late, but Su Fengzi was full of resentment right now. As he spoke, he sadly raised his right hand, wrapped in gauze, to show his “work injury”.
Lin Chen tugged at the corner of his mouth, glanced at the plaster on Su Fengzi’s hand, and then stuffed the apple back into the fruit basket. “Of course, you know, I have already moved on.”
Su Fengzi didn’t expect this kind of response and was silent for a moment, then said, “Mr. Lin, honestly, don’t you think that’s a bit shameless?”
“Yes.”
“And you’re too unfeeling for me.”
“Right.”
“The cabbage I worked so hard to raise has been crushed by pigs*.”
*Refers to a good thing ruined. || Basically, he’s saying Lin Chen (the good thing) is ruined (because he’s fallen in love with a pig (Xing Conglian)).
“Nn.”
“The water’s been poured out by married children*.”
*Metaphor refers to after a daughter gets married, she no longer has a relationship with her original family.
“Indeed.”
Lin Chen looked at the entertainment news being broadcast on TV as he replied casually.
It seemed to be news about a certain singer saying something inappropriate and angering some music fans. Lin Chen hadn’t seen this kind of entertainment gossip in a long time and occasionally found it very interesting. After the anchor finished talking about the key points of the debate between the fans of both sides, Lin Chen realized that the person lying in bed hadn’t spoken.
He turned his head and found that Su Fengzi was looking at him solemnly.
“You weren’t in this state after finishing a case before,” Su Fengzi said calmly.
“What state was I in before, and what state am I in now?” Lin Chen asked.
“You used to lock yourself up silently for many days and then lie to me, so I had to order food to be delivered to you. Now that you’ve moved on, when will you pay me back those meals?”
“In the past, there were too many things that couldn’t be figured out. What about now?” Lin Chen quietly changed the topic from the money owed for food.
But how could a person like Su Fengzi do what he wanted. “So, have you figured out anything about Huang Weiwei’s death?” Su Fengzi asked.
His gaze was rarely serious, as if someone had popped his balloon when he was happily playing with it in the playground or was walking down a street when he got splashed with cold water out of nowhere. Lin Chen lowered his eyes, staring at the snow-white floor tiles for about three seconds, and felt that cold water was stirring in his bones, giving him a chilling pain.
He clenched his fist with difficulty and took a deep breath. Unlike when facing Huang Ze, when he suddenly heard the mention of that name again, those fragmented images emerged one by one and replayed those remorseful moments in his head. He once again held the fleeting thought about turning back the clock and changing the past.
Of course, this was a delusion—a very, unhealthy, delusion.
Lin Chen discovered that he had to mobilize all his psychological adjustment knowledge before he could suppress those emotions again.
“Fengzi, I found that you have a very serious problem.” Lin Chen covered his eyes and tried to wrap up those pictures again.
“Are you trying to boast that I’m too understanding?”
“No, I mean, you really know which pot to close and which one to lift*.”
*(哪壶不开提哪壶) Metaphor referring to one should not talk about other people’s private shortcomings. You should know what should and shouldn’t be said.
“Didn’t your highly respected teacher teach you to forcibly suppress unpleasant memories without trying to solve them? Then it will always be there, and over time, it will cause you mental illness. At that time, it’ll be hard to return. Even the best psychiatrists won’t be able to cure you at that point,” Su Fengzi said solemnly.
“But how can I solve it?” Lin Chen asked rhetorically.
In this world or in life, there were always hurdles that couldn’t be overcome or problems that couldn’t be solved because they were too difficult, so what else could he do except bypass them?
“You never talked to your police officer about the kidnapping and murder case?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“Because he never asked me.”
Su Fengzi sat up straight in disbelief and asked again, “Why?!”
“Why are you so gossipy?” Lin Chen asked with a frown.
“I heard that you ran into Huang Ze, right? Don’t you think Xing Conglian would find it strange the way Huang Ze treats you like a pervert? The way he torments you to get you to beg and plead? If he never asked about the case back then, there are only two possibilities. Either he’s incredibly tolerant or he doesn’t care about you at all…” Su Fengzi trailed off. His eyes flickered, as if there was something in them, and he ended with a smile. “I think you really have to work hard for this unrequited love.”
Lin Chen was speechless.
In the end, Su Fengzi was Su Fengzi; too keen and sharp. He probably wanted to say and ask those things just now when they first met again, but they encountered a difficult case, so he could only hold back for a few hours before he could gossip. It was no wonder he held such deep resentment.
“Actually, there’s a third possibility.” Lin Chen shook his head.
“Oh, what?”
“Because secrets need to be exchanged with each other.” Lin Chen walked to the end of the bed, slowly adjusted Su Fengzi’s hospital bed, turned off the TV, pressed the patient, who wanted to struggle to sit up, down on the bed, and finally covered him with a thin blanket. “You don’t have to make it complicated. The reason he didn’t ask me is simple. Because he himself has too many secrets that can’t be told.”
Lin Chen sat down by the hospital bed again and dimmed the bedside lamp.
Thinking about that room keycard, those inexplicable cameras, and Wang Chao’s strange but gifted background, how could Xing Conglian be just an ordinary police officer?
But right now, he was really just an ordinary policeman, but there must be many stories behind him—many that weren’t told.
Of course, Lin Chen also wanted to know those stories, but telling them and listening to them required the right timing. Perhaps it was over a glass of wine, or maybe over a cup of tea, or maybe when they went out late at night and one person turned left while the other went right, but somehow, they still ended up meeting. Unfortunately, such an encounter had yet to come. It wasn’t the right time for them to meet yet, and it was possible that such a time would never occur in their lives.
If they couldn’t be honest with each other, then maintaining an appropriate distance from each other’s privacy was the minimum respect. At the very least, he thought this was what Xing Conglian was doing to him.
“It’s really not interesting seeing you guys like this.” It took a while before Su Fengzi replied.
“I think it’s quite interesting.”
“Where’s the fun?”
The interesting thing was that if he hadn’t reached such a moment, he could always fantasize about Xing Conglian. That was all.
“Tsk, you’ve really moved on. Are you going to pay me back for all the meals in college?” Su Fengzi rolled over and turned his back towards him.
“Why are you so philistine?” Lin Chen asked with a smile.
“I’m really sad. What’s so good about Xing Conglian?”
“Su Fengzi, how could you ask this when you write those novels for those little girls?”
“Then I’ll change the question. What’s wrong with Xing Conglian?”
Lin Chen thought for a while but said, “Well, he does have a strong desire for control.”
“Oh, a person with a strong desire for control must also possess quite strong abilities.”
Lin Chen took a bite out of the apple and found that it wasn’t surprising that this kind of thing came out of Su Fengzi’s mouth. “Well, it’s possible, but I haven’t yet experienced it.”
—-
When Lin Chen walked out of the hospital, he couldn’t remember what he and Su Fengzi talked about in the dimly lit ward.
It was some boring conversation that could be written in any third-rate romance novel.
As the night wind blew, Lin Chen suddenly realized that Su Fengzi was probably using him as material, which was why he asked so many weird questions.
Xing Conglian’s Jeep was parked on the opposite side of the road. Across the long and empty road, Lin Chen saw him standing by his car, but he wasn’t smoking.
The night breeze brushed through his hair and clothes, blurring his face, but his figure stood out clearly.
Lin Chen walked towards him and suddenly wanted to know how his story would end if it were written in Su Fengzi’s book.
“How’s Su Fengzi?” After getting in the car, Xing Conglian’s first question was actually about Su Fengzi.
Lin Chen fastened his seatbelt and saw Wang Chao sleeping crookedly in the back seat while holding onto his laptop. He thought Xing Conglian was afraid that the atmosphere in the car would be too depressing, so he deliberately found a topic to chat about.
“Seems happy. A nurse bought him some apples, but he complained that no one peeled them for him.”
“Your friend is very interesting.” Xing Conglian lowered the car window a little. The night breeze made him a bit more awake. “How’s your hand?”
“I went to retake the x-rays. The doctor who showed me the x-rays looked at me blankly, as if there was nothing for him to do.” Lin Chen leaned back in his seat. It was close to midnight, and there was no one on the street. The entire city was calm, as if it was in a dream. He turned to look at Xing Conglian and said, “Fortunately, I didn’t take the medical report written by Professor Zhang. Otherwise, the physician would probably scold me to death.”
Xing Conglian laughed dumbfoundedly. “Consultant Lin, the organization is thinking about your health here. The bureau will reimburse you.”
Lin Chen chuckled and shook his head. “How’s Jiang Chao?”
“Probably fine, except for having to write a report for three days and nights.”
“Then the follow-up matters?”
“That’ll be handled by the Yongchuan police. We have to go home tomorrow.”
When he said the words “go home”, Xing Conglian happened to stop the car outside the hotel. They were facing a wide lake, and the cool lake breeze blew across the car.
Xing Conglian looked back at the teenager in the backseat, who was smacking his mouth, and asked with a smile, “What do you think about us leaving him here?”
He certainly meant it in an innocent way, but when those words reached Lin Chen’s ears, his heart couldn’t help but skip a beat.
Sure enough, he should talk less with Su Fengzi…
As Lin Chen was thinking this, he saw Xing Conglian suddenly open the door and get out of the car. He then walked around to his side and knocked on the window, smiled, then asked, “Consultant Lin, do you have time to get a drink together?”
Before Lin Chen could react, he saw Xing Conglian take out two cans of Yongchuan draft beer from his pockets, open them, and hand one over. “But it seems that only the two of us can drink it.”
The lake breeze was cool. Lin Chen held his beer can and gently touched it but didn’t respond.
In the distance, the lake was dark and quiet, with only scattered lights that dotted the shore.
It was late at night.
There weren’t many words exchanged.
“A good drink to accompany a nice view.”
“Yes, I think so too.”
“Can we still get breakfast near your school tomorrow and bring Wang Chao with us?”
“Yes, it would be nice if I could take you to another place tomorrow.”
Their small talk didn’t have any deep meaning. He didn’t know what was said or how much was said, but rather where it was said.
“Three Graves, is it really a non-existent organization?”
Suddenly, Lin Chen heard Xing Conglian ask this.
Lin Chen leaned on the bumper and shook the empty beer can. He looked to his side and met Xing Conglian’s eyes, which looked deep, as if they were profound.
There was a light, sweet smell of alcohol leaving his breath. Lin Chen couldn’t help but think what a clever man this person was. He raised his head and stared at Xing Conglian.
Under the dazzling starlight, he wanted to kiss him.
Kinky Thoughts:
Well, the key word is yet. Lin Chen will learn soon what a man with strong abilities can really do.
This is it for arc 3. I’ve been told that the next arc is supposedly the best, so look forward to that. This marks the end of the anniversary release. I will be taking a break for the rest of this month, so releases will be extremely sporadic until at least January. Thank you everyone for your support, comments, Ko-fi donations, and help throughout the past year. Here’s hoping for more danmei in 2023. Wishing everyone an (early) happy holidays.
Jiang Chao’s voice echoed in the car through the stereo. His face was solemn and cold. Lin Chen could feel his anger, his suffocation, and all his resentment.
However, without the need for verbal communication, he looked at the reflection in the mirror and saw Xing Conglian looking at him.
In the next moment, Xing Conglian switched the car button and threw the Bluetooth headset to Lin Chen. Beside him, Wang Chao quickly understood and, at the same time, blocked off Jiang Chao’s communication system from his team.
Just before he opened the door and got out of the car, he heard Xing Conglian order the rest of the police force as he was facing the live broadcast, “I am Xing Conglian, and I am now in charge of this operation. Please quickly cover your mouth and nose and evacuate the factory in an orderly manner.”
Lin Chen slammed the car door and put on the headset. Jiang Chao’s wireless communication equipment had been isolated and was connected to him.
Jiang Chao’s angry voice came from the headset. “Fuck, Lao Xing. What the hell are you doing?!”
“Captain Jiang, please forgive me for the urgent matter.” Lin Chen pressed on the mic as he spoke.
“Consultant Lin… What do you mean… That Lao Xing!”
Probably hearing that it was Lin Chen on the line, Jiang Chao’s voice softened significantly.
Lin Chen leaned against the door of the car, remembering the dark eyes of Xing Conglian just now, and said, “He’s probably afraid of wasting time scolding you to death, so he directly handed the task of communicating with you to me.”
“Did Lao Xing cut off my authority again and then ask you to persuade me?” Jiang Chao huffed twice on the other end. Seeing that there was no response, he laughed at himself. “It’s really hard for him to take my feelings into account.”
When Lin Chen heard this, he looked inside the car and saw Xing Conglian’s eyes moving quickly, with his lips opening and closing, as if he were directing the police officers to avoid the cameras and evacuate in an orderly manner.
“No, I’m not advising you. I’m just asking for your understanding.”
Lin Chen lowered his head, looked at his feet, and then at the gray road.
He certainly had many truths to say, but it didn’t matter if it was worth speaking them or not. It was hard for him to say these truths to Jiang Chao because he knew very well why Jiang Chao didn’t leave.
In the headset, Jiang Chao’s suppressed voice came through. “Consultant Lin, I’m quite sober in my thinking. First of all, if there is a bomb, I’ll stay here and buy them time so they can evacuate. Secondly, now that the dark webcast is online, those dirty bedbugs are watching us. If we were to retreat now, what will those bedbugs think of the Yongchuan police?”
The reason Jiang Chao didn’t leave was because he couldn’t compromise.
This made Lin Chen feel sad.
Front-line police officers faced pressure not only from superiors and criminals, but also from social pressure. No matter when, where, or why, they must never show any signs of compromise to criminals.
In front of them were those criminals, and behind them were countless ordinary people.
Not only that, once they made any mistakes, like, for example, today’s video being edited by someone with ulterior motives and uploaded again, showing the police force fleeing after being intimidated by criminals, the people in front of them would reign triumphant, while the people behind them wouldn’t be able to understand. This was the greatest sorrow.
“I understand how you feel.” Lin Chen raised his head and looked at the sky, burned red by the sunset. “But in our profession, courage refers not only to throwing your head in and spilling blood, but it also refers to the timely retreat and preservation of strength in the face of criminals. In the eyes of me and most of the people you protect, your life is 10,000 times more precious than the lives of garbage, bedbugs, and social scum, so please cherish it.”
Jiang Chao didn’t answer.
Lin Chen thought for a while and said, “Although I can’t solve those contradictory social problems, I can still do my best for the current situation, so I assure you that the video broadcast today will never appear on any social network in the world.” Lin Chen recovered, looked at the teenager with a tense face, and said, “Because Wang Chao is really capable.”
Jiang Chao was still silent. Lin Chen felt that in his life so far, he had rarely encountered such a stubborn person.
After a while, Jiang Chao spoke again. “Well, my face has already been revealed. Isn’t it meaningless to go or not? Whether it blows up or not, you still need someone to dismantle all these cameras. Let me do it.”
Just then, the car window lowered.
He saw Xing Conglian poke out his head and asked, “Why isn’t Jiang Chao out yet?!”
In a rare instance, Xing Conglian had raised his voice at him.
From the headset, Lin Chen could hear Jiang Chao whisper, “I’m being capricious, right?”
Looking at Xing Conglian’s frigid face, Lin Chen lowered his head and said to the person on the other end of the line, “No, your choice is ultimately made from your own heart, not for others. I choose to respect it.”
—-
If this were a sad story, the next shot would be fire and smoke, and the last persistence and broken faces of their comrades-in-arms.
But in this world, things were not always tragic. Occasionally, there would be some good luck.
In the end, there weren’t any bombs. Some of the shots closed with Jiang Chao’s outstretched black gloves and the final picture of darkness.
Without saying a word, Xing Conglian stepped on the gas. When his face was ugly, it made everyone present involuntarily silent.
In the car, Wang Chao instructed Jiang Chao to remove the cameras. “Boss Jiang, camera No. 2 should be on a tower crane. You can see it when you look up. The camera can’t capture you. You should go to the third floor and dismantle it.”
As he spoke, he probed through the mirror to observe Xing Conglian’s expression, as if he were afraid of saying something wrong. As for comrade Ma Han, after the Jeep started again, he didn’t dare say a word or even let out a cry.
Naturally, Lin Chen knew that Xing Conglian was angry because he didn’t approve of his final compromise with Jiang Chao, but because he made the decision, Xing Conglian couldn’t refute him on the spot. In short, this was Mr. Xing giving him some face.
When they waited in front of the abandoned factory, Jiang Chao had just pushed the door open.
The police officers outside the factory looked at each other, not knowing what was going on.
Xing Conglian slammed on the brakes. After he got out of the car, he glanced at Jiang Chao from a distance, then turned around without saying a word and walked around the corner between the factory building and the factory room.
Jiang Chao swallowed and followed suit.
Lin Chen looked at the disappearing figures of the two of them and heard the teenager next to him secretly ask, “Is he dead?”
He turned his head and glanced at Wang Chao, thinking to himself, ‘Don’t you have more experience in judging this kind of thing?’
“Have you ever lost your life?” Lin Chen thought for a bit but was still a little worried.
“To be specific, no, but broken hands and feet are a possibility.”
“So violent?”
“You can’t say that. Sometimes it’s hard to lead a big team. It’s a big issue when you accidentally make a fool of yourself, so everything has to be controlled and balanced.” Wang Chao rubbed against Lin Chen with an expression of pull your ear closer for some juicy gossip. Lin Chen lowered his head and listened. “Let me tell you. Our captain may seem indifferent to many things, but he’s actually pretending. I have never seen a man with a stronger desire for control than him in my life.” As the teenager spoke, he slowly clenched his palms. “It’s scary. Be careful.”
After the teenager finished speaking, he patted Lin Chen on the shoulder and quickly jumped away.
Lin Chen looked at the corner in the distance. There didn’t seem to be any particularly fierce quarrel. When he turned his head again, Wang Chao had already changed his expression into “I didn’t say anything” again.
Previously, Xing Conglian had told him about Wang Chao’s life experience, and now Wang Chao was telling him about Xing Conglian’s.
Are these two dating?
Lin Chen thought helplessly.
And the desire for control?
Lin Chen didn’t care too much about this matter before, but now it seemed that there have indeed been clues in the past. Xing Conglian…
Lin Chen sighed and finally got out of the car.
He walked slowly in the direction of where Xing Conglian and Jiang Chao had vanished. When he rounded the corner, he found Xing Conglian and Jiang Chao were standing at the end of the alley, whispering something.
“I feel fucking suffocated. Why can’t you let me have a good time!”
Jiang Chao lowered his head. His face looked flushed, and he couldn’t help but refute.
“Cool, so cool. You think getting fucking blown up is cool? Do you know that in the case of Fang Zhiming’s daughter, our Hongjing police force sacrificed three people in the end. Threepeople. Threelives!” With one hand in his pocket, Xing Conglian reprimanded Jiang Chao extremely forcefully. “You can still stand here and talk to me now purely because of your good fate!”
Standing in front of Jiang Chao, Xing Conglian gave Lin Chen the illusion of leading and educating his subordinate.
In terms of level, although Jiang Chao was the vice captain, Yongchuan was the provincial capital. Jiang Chao’s actual administrative level was slightly higher than that of Xing Conglian’s. What was more, they were assisting in handling the case on the site of the Yongchuan police’s jurisdiction. For Xing Conglian to reprimand other people’s bosses in their own territory, it meant that he was truly furious.
Lin Chen stood still behind them. Intellectually speaking, Jiang Chao had reasons why he couldn’t leave and had to stay. Those reasons convinced him, but perhaps the same reason, in the eyes of Xing Conglian, was utter stupidity.
He took a step forward and wanted to say something but heard Jiang Chao say, “This case, from beginning to end, was solved by you and Consultant Lin. What did I do? Would it mean that if it weren’t for you, there would be a shocking tragedy in my jurisdiction, in a place where I swore to protect, and I would have no way to prevent it because of my lack of ability? Why am I so useless?” Jiang Chao held his head high, and his voice was uncontrollably agitated. “The only thing I can do is stand there and tell them that we’re not afraid and we won’t take a step back even if we die. Can’t I even do this?”
Lin Chen stopped. He looked at Jiang Chao’s flushed eyes and found that he was too sad to say anything.
Indeed, if it were not for those who were always in the front lines protecting their lives, they would probably never be able to experience the fear caused by powerlessness. It was like a doctor who couldn’t treat a patient, or a mother who couldn’t hold her child’s hand. No matter how much life and death they were used to seeing, no matter how numb they thought they had become, they would always tremble at such a certain moment because of self-blame.
He raised his head and looked at Xing Conglian.
Xing Conglian was as calm as ever—or rather, he was calmer than before.
“Do you have a misunderstanding about our profession?” Xing Conglian stood there, like a mountain, like the sea, and said, “We never do these things for fun. Even when you bring those criminals to justice and watch them face the guillotine, you won’t always be happy, because only you know how difficult the process is and how much you paid for it. And the most expensive cost of all is to endure all of this—to endure their dirty sins as well as our powerlessness many times, and then preserve and endure even more.”
“This is our profession.” Xing Conglian ended.
Lin Chen looked at him, feeling that all words had lost their effectiveness. He couldn’t help but bow to him earnestly.
Xing Conglian stood still on the side of the road. “Calm down and tell me. Can you locate where the live broadcast is?”
His tone was cold as he opened the playback of the live feed. Lin Chen slightly lowered his head only to hear Wang Chao’s voice. “I don’t know. The picture is very dark and blurred now. I suspect someone had specifically turned down the brightness… Damn it! It seems to be in some kind of factory!”
Wang Chao’s voice sounded nervous as his last sentences became unstable.
Lin Chen glanced at Xing Conglian. A factory, for example, was not within their range of possible attacks, so where was this camera?
At this moment, a soft voice sounded beside Wang Chao. “This… Our Jiang team just asked for statements from the students. They said that their usual meeting place is in an abandoned factory in the industrial zone behind University City.”
“Give the person next to you the phone,” Xing Conglian said decisively.
“Xing… Hello, Captain Xing. I’m from the second division. I… I’m Ma Han.” On the other end of the line, comrade Ma Han’s timid voice sounded.
“No need to introduce yourself. Get the point.”
It was rare for Xing Conglian to be so curt.
Lin Chen glanced up at him again and saw that his expression was grim. Lin Chen was used to seeing him expressionless in the face of a mountain collapsing, but he was surprised to find that Xing Conglian had reacted so strongly. He roughly understood that this was probably Xing Conglian’s self-blame.
In fact, from the time they just handed over the case to Jiang Chao to the time they walked out of the cafeteria, Xing Conglian never once mentioned any details regarding the follow-up. He didn’t even ask about it when Wang Chao was present, as if he had completely let go of the case. After all, at the end of the day, the case wasn’t within their jurisdiction from the start.
It didn’t matter if it was the way of officialdom or if there was a limit to how much he could advance or retreat. In the end, this was someone else’s case. If he got too pushy, he would look as if he was being greedy for merit, so when it was time to retreat, Xing Conglian did so. Still, he felt guilty for not handling the follow-up process well. This mindset was contradictory, but it was fueled by a strong desire for control; control over oneself, control over others, and control over everything.
Lin Chen lowered his eyes and tried not to think about it but rather focus on the information being narrated by the little policeman on the other end of the line.
About half an hour ago, a student confessed they organized a rally at their usual rally location, which was in an abandoned factory in the industrial area on the outskirts of the city. After Jiang Chao learned the news, he personally led a team and rushed there.
After listening, Xing Conglian asked, “When did they set off?”
“Let me call and ask?” Little comrade Ma Han’s voice was timid.
“Hurry!” Before Xing Conglian could say anything, Wang Chao had already begun to urge.
“Wang Chao, go downstairs with Ma Han. I’ll pick you up. Call Lin Chen’s phone.”
After Xing Conglian finished speaking, he hung up. “They are in office building No. 5. You go first. I’ll go get the car, and then we’ll meet downstairs.”
The location where Xing Conglian parked was further away from where building No. 5 was located, which was why Xing Conglian asked Lin Chen to go on ahead.
Lin Chen nodded. Xing Conglian patted him on the shoulder, then turned and ran away.
The cheers of students came from the basketball gym, as if to celebrate a team making a shot. Laughter and cheer came overwhelmingly.
Lin Chen’s heart sank. He took out his phone and called Wang Chao, then started running.
The sound of wind buzzed across his ear as he ran. He almost bumped into a passing couple on campus along the way.
“A’Chen, Ma Han said the Jiang team set off about a quarter of an hour ago.” On the other end of the line, Wang Chao could be heard running downstairs. There was violent panting in his voice. “I have calculated that it took almost a quarter of an hour from where the Jiang team left to the abandoned factory.”
In other words, in theory, the start of the live broadcast happened to be the time when Jiang Chao and the others arrived at the abandoned factory. Could it be that Jiang Chao and his team’s arrival triggered the live broadcast? But why?
Lin Chen had many unpleasant conjectures in his heart. “Have you contacted someone on the team? Have Captain Jiang and his team withdraw.”
“Xiao Ma just said they can’t contact the Jiang team. They may have already entered the factory area and turned or muted their phone during the operation so we can’t get through!”
“Got it.”
After Lin Chen finished speaking, he had already seen two little comrades rushing downstairs in the distance, and, further away, Xing Conglian’s jeep also appeared.
Xing Conglian came quickly and arrived at almost the same time as him. After getting in the car, Wang Chao was so anxious that he kept asking, “A’Chen, what should I do? It won’t be another horror live broadcast, right?”
“It’s theoretically possible, but the possibility isn’t great.”
As soon as he heard the news of the live broadcast reopening, Lin Chen also wondered if the mastermind wanted to blow up the police raiders. After all, something similar had happened before.
But after sitting down and thinking calmly about it, the mastermind’s information wasn’t equal to theirs. Unless they chose to blow up the factory from the start, it was difficult for them to sneak into the warehouse to install bombs, then evacuate after the police fully enclosed the area. This was uninsured behavior, since it was likely the police force would have already deployed control measures around the warehouse in advance.
Therefore, this current live broadcast was more like a provocation.
In other words, it was roughly saying, “When you look at me, I’m also looking at you.”
Lin Chen took a deep breath and calmed his emotions. At that moment, Wang Chao suddenly shouted, “There’s a picture!”
Lin Chen quickly looked to his side, then put the notebook on his lap. The live broadcast screen suddenly lit up. The factory gate was slammed open, and black-clothed special forces formed a tactical formation and were rushing in.
Suddenly, the picture froze again, and the figures of the police officers became blurred because of the video jam.
“What can we do?!” Ma Han sat next to Wang Chao as he looked at the footage, almost in tears.
“Damn it! The wireless network coverage is too poor!” Wang Chao repeatedly slapped the laptop and began to quickly hack all the wireless networks in the surrounding area.
“Is it possible to connect to Jiang Chao’s team communication channel?” Xing Conglian asked suddenly.
“Do you use a digital IP interconnection system?”
Wang Chao turned his head and asked Ma Han, but comrade Ma Han’s face had an expression of: “I… have to probably call and ask.”
Wang Chao glared at him and decided to do it himself. “Captain, park the car in front of the School of Science and Technology for a minute. I can’t even connect to a wireless network when you drive so fucking fast!”
Despite hearing the cursing, Xing Conglian didn’t bat an eye and quickly turned sharply right and slammed on the brakes.
The Jeep stopped steadily at the gate of the school, and the digital stream on the screen scrolled quickly. As he was typing instructions, Wang Chao said to Ma Han, “Call and ask your colleagues in the division if they can contact your boss.”
When Ma Han heard this, he hurriedly disconnected the call, trying to reach Jiang Chao. Wang Chao saw the screen on his phone and was furious. “You keep calling Vice Captain Jiang’s squad. Don’t you know the communication will be blocked?”
Ma Han was scolded bloody by him. Although he was a lovely young man, his experience with Wang Chao was destined to be different from that of normal people when he encountered trouble.
Lin Chen patted Wang Chao’s head and said calmly, “I know what you’re thinking, but things won’t be as bad as you think.”
After he finished speaking, he looked at Ma Han and said, “Listen to him and call your colleagues.”
Ma Han’s big eyes had turned red at this moment, but he still listened and called his colleagues again. Sure enough, the voice on the other end was even more anxious. “There’s no answer from the on-board system. Team Jiang should have all gone in so no one’s answering the phone!”
“They’re all in! I know they’re all in! They’re being broadcast live right now. You have to get them out quickly before something happens!”
Hearing this, comrade Ma Han choked up again. Seeing him like this, Lin Chen quickly took out his phone and pressed the public release button.
“What is the distribution group number that Captain Jiang uses?”
While Wang Chao was talking, the wireless communication center dispatch page was opened.
Apparently, the police officers there weren’t too clear about the operating principle behind the intercom equipment they were using, as there was a long “errr” sound on the other end of the line, though truth be told, Lin Chen was completely ignorant about these things as well.
However, Wang Chao was a strong player with many skills. If it weren’t for their current emergency, Lin Chen would ask Xing Conglian what this child born in Africa ate while growing up.
Soon, there was a sound of running coming through the mic, documents being flipped, before finally the person who answered on the other line said, “I’ll take a picture of the specific information and send it to you!”
Lin Chen clicked on the photo and raised his cell phone in front of Wang Chao. Wang Chao glanced at it, brought up a series of communication devices from the central page, and then shouted at Xing Conglian, “Captain, I’m connecting it to the car’s Bluetooth.”
After a while, the sound of Jiang Chao arranging the task force came through from the stereo. “A team on the third floor, B team on the second, take it easy. They are all evidence!”
Jiang Chao’s voice was as arrogant and unruly as ever. When the voice came from the stereo, everyone in the car breathed a sigh of relief.
Lin Chen hadn’t hung up the phone. The cheers of the police officers of the second division came through it.
“Jiang Chao, Jiang Chao, can you hear me?” Xing Conglian asked.
Vice Captain Jiang Chao on the other end of the communicator was taken aback and shouted, “Holy shit, how did you cut in Lao Xing? Don’t play tricks on me again!”
“Listen to me carefully. You’re appearing on the latest broadcast right now. Immediately notify your subordinates and evacuate the factory.”
“What live broadcast?” Jiang Chao still didn’t understand the situation.
“The live broadcast on the dark web! Come out now!”
“What the hell?! Why are we on the live broadcast!” Jiang Chao shouted at the top of his lungs. “There’s no bullshit here. Tell me where the camera is, and I’ll take it out!”
Jiang Chao was still reckless. Lin Chen raised his head suddenly and saw Xing Conglian’s face as black as coal in the mirror. “Cut the fucking crap and get out of there!”
“Lao Xing, are you sacred? Scared that there’s going to be a bomb? If they wanted to blow us up, they would’ve done it earlier instead of giving us time to have a chat!”
Jiang Chao was still acting arrogant and disdainful.
In the live broadcast, the vice captain who was holding down his headset turned around, and his entire face appeared on it. He said to Xing Conglian, “I know what you’re afraid of. That’s how Lao Fang died. If you want to see laozi’s face, let them see it. If they have the guts, they will come and kill me. Laozi is waiting!”
The emotions of life were just emotions. After all, life was composed of trivial daily routines, and those thrilling and close calls were just accidental adjustments in life, and these adjustments should be as few as possible.
When Lin Chen left the school hospital, he had a thick cast on his hand.
Xing Conglian took out a cigarette with one hand while the other was holding a bag of medicines prescribed by the doctor for Lin Chen’s hand. He lifted his pocket and examined the packaging of the medicine carefully, before he tentatively asked, “Seriously, you really don’t need to go to a big hospital? Is this really just a bone fracture?”
Hearing what he said, Lin Chen looked back at the crowded hall of the school hospital and said, “The one who just examined my hand is a retired old professor and an orthopedic expert from the school of medicine who’s just enjoying his pension. That level should be okay?”
“Well, that’s more than passable.” Xing Conglian quickly replied. He seemingly thought of something and asked again, “But if your school hospital is so great, why is Su Fengzi still clamoring to go to the city hospital?”
“He’s probably afraid his dad will find out.” Lin Chen curled his lips as he said it.
“Huh, who’s his dad?”
“Don’t you know Fengzi is the prince of Yongchuan University?”
“Yongchuan University, Pr–in–ce?” Xing Conglian reacted quickly and almost choked on the smoke. “Mr. Su’s son?”
“Yes, Fengzi is the young master of the principal’s family.” When Lin Chen said this, he also found it funny.
Su Fengzi grew up in the campus family compound since he was a child. Even the little nurse who gave him his shots at the school hospital had been harassed numerous times by him. If he were to run to the school hospital to suture up his terrible wound, that would be equivalent to directly going to his father’s office and saying, “I did a big thing today!”
Lin Chen was pleased to see Xing Conglian’s confused expression, as if something wasn’t quite right. When he first found out about this, his reaction was also relatively calm.
After all, for his highly respected teacher to give birth to such a son, anyone would doubt something was amiss.
“There really is no resemblance,” Xing Conglian said with deep emotion.
As the evening approached, the air was filled with the pleasant smell of spring grass and trees, which made people go silent.
Unknowingly, people were drawn to the water, so it was strange that they once again arrived at the lake.
At this time, the setting sun was setting westward, and the water surface was sparkling.
Since Xing Conglian’s phone hadn’t rung, it meant there was no news, and that was probably the best news.
He half-closed his eyes and sighed deeply.
“What?” Lin Chen asked.”
“It seems as if a generation has passed*.”
*(恍如隔世) Idiom referring to a feeling caused by a great change in people or scenery. This comes from the travelogue “Wu Chuanlu” written by Fan Chengda, a writer from the Song Dynasty.
“This idiom is too literary and artistic, so it’s not suitable for you to say.”
“Counting things, three days ago, we came here to hang out yet we’re unlucky enough to run into such a big case…”
Although he spoke casually, Lin Chen could clearly see the lazy look on his face.
Even Xing Conglian felt tired, so the experience in the past three days could be described as if a generation had passed.
Lin Chen stood by the lake, looking at the sunset, which wasn’t much different from when the sun rose that day. He wanted to say something, such as encouragement or relief, but even if he had thousands of words in his heart, he could only deeply sigh.
“What?” It was Xing Conglian who asked this time.
“I was thinking, I’m very hungry now, and the cafeteria is not far from us…”
“Eat if you’re hungry. Is there a problem? We’ve been at your school for so long, and you haven’t even invited me out for a meal yet.”
“But I didn’t bring any money.”
“Don’t you have a meal card or something?”
“I graduated from here long ago. How could I possess such a thing as a meal card?”
“But I didn’t bring any money…”
Hearing this, they both looked at each other and said at the same time, “Where’s Wang Chao?”
—-
Wang Chao was still helping the second division.
As a premier technician, comrade Wang Chao was sitting in an office at Yongchuan University. Together with two technicians that Jiang Chao had transferred from who knows where, he was monitoring the dynamics of the live broadcast on the deep web. It was different from when he was working with Xing Conglian. At this moment, he rested his legs on the table and had snacks brought to him by a young lady from the second division. Three minutes had passed since the agreed-upon live broadcast time, but the website was still all black. In the message bar at right, curses from various languages flooded the chat box.
After all, these psychopaths from all over the world had been cheated out of a lot of money by this live broadcast website.
Wang Chao stuffed a potato chip into his mouth and took a sip of orange juice.
“A bunch of spicy chickens*.”
*(辣鸡) Internet slang for garbage (because it’s a homonym for it).
As he said this, his phone suddenly rang. When he glanced at the caller ID, he almost choked on the potato chips.
“Hey Captain. Is there anything I can do for you?”
Wang Chao thought his boss was calling to check in on the progress of the case, but instead of what he expected, he heard, “Do you have money?”
“Captain, when have I ever gone out and brought money? Isn’t my whole persona a maize weevil*?”
*Rice worm. Basically, he’s calling himself a mooch.
“Don’t you have a thousand in the second pocket of your backpack?” On the other end of the phone, there was a sneer from Xing Conglian. “Didn’t you say that was prepared for when you can’t suddenly handle my high-handed rule and you’ll run away from home?”
“That’s my money. Don’t even think about it. I’m telling you, I’ll really leave if you don’t treat me better!” He quickly and justly refused. What a joke! There was no reason for him to give up this money.
“Your brother A’Chen said he’s hungry and wanted to eat…”
“Oh, I’ll deliver it right away. Where are we meeting?”
—-
The call ended with the teenager’s trailing voice.
Lin Chen looked at Xing Conglian’s smiling face. The words “brother A’Chen” were still echoing in his ears…
Due to Wang Chao’s personality, when people talk to him, they invariably used a brisk tone, and at this moment, Xing Conglian’s voice had a slight nasal sound due to drowsiness. In short, it sounded husky and sweet, so there was a strange feeling of intimacy*.
*Clarity: As explained before, usually when addressing someone with an A’ in front of their name, it’s a sign of intimacy that’s normally reserved for your loved ones. Wang Chao is using it as more of a nickname, and it fits his persona. Given that Lin Chen is aware of his feelings, hearing Xing Conglian say “A’Chen” is very significant (especially given his husky voice right now, as if he had just woken up from a nap kind of voice), even if Xing Conglian isn’t saying it in a romantic sense.
Lin Chen looked at him for a while, only to see his gentle gaze, with just the right amount of haze in his eyes, like crumbling gold; it was brilliant and warm.
Xing Conglian was truly handsome.
The wind was soft and the sunset gentle, which naturally eased the mood.
Lin Chen thought that this was already very good.
—-
When Wang Chao came, they already knew what to order at the cafeteria. So when the teenager arrived with his “escape money”, they quickly charged 200 yen to the meal card and ordered a large variety of food.
In short, Xing Conglian basically ordered a whole slew of food that looked delicious.
They weren’t really that hungry, but it was interesting to see comrade Wang Chao’s pained face, so they ended up ordering more.
Lin Chen propped up his chin and observed Wang Chao carefully at the table as he held the change from the meal card full of heartache and thought it was quite amusing.
“Why did you withdraw it so quickly? I have to buy a pack of cigarettes from the commissary later,” Xing Conglian continued to tease him.
“Fuck me, you’re not allowed to use my noble money to buy things like cigarettes!”
“I’m just borrowing 20 yuan.”
“You never pay back the money you borrow from me!” Wang Chao said as he put the banknotes in his pockets, as if he would never touch it again.
“Hey, don’t be so stingy.”
“No, no. This is my capital to fight for a free life!”
Lin Chen smiled and looked at Xing Conglian. “Why is he like this?”
“Probably because of poverty.” Xing Conglian shook his head and said helplessly, “He’s been especially stingy since he was a child. His interests in life are to play games, have fun, and save money.”
“Don’t you pay him a salary and give him allowances?” Seeing Wang Chao’s looking like Grandet*, Lin Chen couldn’t help asking.
*Character from Eugenie Grandet, a novel by French author Honore de Balzac. He is portrayed as shrewd, vicious, frugal, and ruthless.
“Bah, he’s a member of the staff. The state pays him, and often he swindles money from me!”
“Then how can he be poor?”
Hearing Lin Chen ask him this, Xing Conglian just smiled. “Probably because he’s more special?”
“What do you use your salary for?” Lin Chen turned his head and asked the person in question.
“Saving the world,” Wang Chao answered rightfully.
“Saving the world?”
“It’s actually just donating money.” Xing Conglian chuckled.
“What do you mean, just donating money? I’m investing in the future of mankind!” When the teenager talked about “the future of mankind”, he almost raised his fork as he shouted it.
“What are you investing in?” Lin Chen rubbed Wang Chao’s head with interest.
“The United Nations Capital Development Fund and the United Nations Children Education Foundation. They aim to help young people in less developed countries obtain equal educational opportunities. The most recent donation project, The Hour of Code, is to provide a platform for children around the world to learn programming. A’Chen, would you like to donate some?!”
Lin Chen was surprised.
Before hearing what he said, Lin Chen always thought he was investing in projects such as “Nuannuan Development Foundation” or “100 Sleeping Princes and the Kingdom of Dreams Development Association”, but he actually donated his salary to UNICEF every month. Wasn’t this too enlightening?
Logically, he should ask “why” now, but he thought for a bit. A young man like Wang Chao was carefree. When he saw the rising sun, it was a sunny day, and when he saw the sunset, it was a starry night. He embraced the most beautiful thing in the world, so it wasn’t surprising that Wang Chao would do this.
“Okay, you can help me donate this month’s salary.” Lin Chen paused for a moment before responding.
“Okay!”
He sounded as happy as if someone had loaded 10,000 yuan onto his online gaming account. Wang Chao excitedly swept up the food on the table and grabbed a scoop of ice cream with Xing Conglian. “A’Chen, you’re really a good person. 10,000 times better than the Captain!” He stuffed two-thirds of the ice cream scoop into his mouth as he said this sincerely.
Although Xing Conglian seemed to have ordered a lot of food, the amount was perfect, as everything was cleanly eaten.
Wang Chao was driven back by Xing Conglian to continue to monitor the live broadcast website. In the end, Xing Conglian still managed to wriggle out 20 yen from him and bought two packs of cigarettes.
They continued to hang out as he smoked.
When he walked into the basketball gym, Xing Conglian suddenly said, “He was born in Africa.” He, of course, referred to Wang Chao.
Lin Chen was taken aback. This was the first time that Xing Conglian told him about Wang Chao’s past.
But Africa? This was surprising.
“That’s far away. How come he’s here.”
He remembered the teenager’s milky white skin, so he shouldn’t be the illegitimate son of some tribal leader.
“His parents were managers of a construction company aiding Africa. They were honest and ordinary people. During the genocide, they died protecting more than 100 local residents.”
When he talked about this, Xing Conglian’s face was calm, but his tone reminded Lin Chen of the fierce yellow sand in the vast wilderness, as well as guns and blood.
Lin Chen frowned and wanted to ask more, but Xing Conglian’s phone suddenly rang.
As if foreshadowing something, the anxious voice of the teenager came from the mic.
“Cap… Captain. The website is up again. Come quick. Quick. Hurry!”
It was an inconspicuous small building—at least compared to the many ancient buildings of Yongchuan University, that small three-story building wasn’t eye-catching.
Its exterior wall was red, and the architectural style had a clear taste of the Republic of China, so the windows were a collage of stained glass; a style that wasn’t often seen in modern times.
In Yongchuan University, most of these small buildings had their own public use. Some were reserved as offices for professors, some were labs, and others were used as exhibition halls. In any case, because these small buildings were precious, they mostly belonged to the university’s exclusive use. For those that didn’t flip through the materials specifically, few would know that in the depths of the path on the shore of the lake, there was a small red building that didn’t belong to the school.
The cherry blossoms outside the small building were in full bloom. Its pink petals reminded people of many wonderful and moving stories.
At some point in time, young faces gradually gathered together outside the small building.
The first person to approach the building didn’t boldly push open the door. He just stood quietly at the entrance, tightening his grip on the cold weapon in his hand. After him, there were others who gathered. Girls in school uniforms, teenagers wearing caps, and girls in long skirts…
Like attending a rally, more and more people started to gather outside the building, but unlike at a rally, they didn’t have any communication with each other.
The sun gradually moved, making everything look bright.
Finally, the person standing in front acted. He slowly walked up the steps and pushed hard, causing the ochre-red door to suddenly open wide.
At that moment, everyone outside of the small building wasn’t in a rush to enter. They all took something out of their arms and pockets at the same time.
Steel pipes, chains, knives…
They held the weapons tight in their hands. With bloodshot eyes, they walked into the building one by one.
Unlike the bright scene outside, the interior of the small building was dark. All the stained glass was covered with black cloth, and even the temperature had dropped abruptly.
The door suddenly closed. The last person to enter wrapped the door handle with a thick chain, creating a tooth-aching creaking sound as he sealed the entrance shut.
From light to darkness, their eyes needed time to adapt, so they could hardly see the environment inside the building.
It stood to reason that when people lose their vision, they would feel a sense of fear, but they didn’t experience it because they were with each other. When they were together, there was no voice to be afraid of in the world.
They gradually heard, in that huge space, the sounds of echoes coming from all over, as if there were some nocturnal creature crawling on the floor in the dark night. Perhaps it was a rat, or maybe a cockroach, or maybe something else.
Their vision gradually recovered, and everyone became excited.
There were really people here!
A chandelier hung from the old ceiling. When the dim light suddenly fell on them, they trembled.
Before entering the building, they had fantasized about what kind of group the organization called “Three Graves” was.
They fantasized about how they looked when they were in this meeting, what they were talking about, and how they would look when they thought they were at their best, and they imagined beating them with steel pipes and watching as they wailed in a pool of blood…
They had thought about so many things, but the appearance of those people in front of them was still beyond their imagination.
There were no suits, no shirts, no words, not even eyes. Everything in the small building was silent and depressed.
In front of them stood people dressed in all black. They were wearing black clothes that were enshrouded by the yellow light from the chandelier.
What was creepy was that those people in black were like ghosts. They didn’t even bother turning their gaze to the sudden intruders but continued to hold their thick brushes as they buried their heads on the floor and outlined a huge pattern…
They then turned to look at the floor, which was soft ivory white with mountains of black lines all over it rather than the usual wood color. Those lines rolled up and down, surrounding each other, then splitting apart again.
Suddenly one of them pointed to one of the figures in black and shouted, “It’s him!”
Looking in the direction of the finger, they saw an extremely handsome face.
Although the lights were dim, and the person’s face was blurred, they could still recognize that it was Chen Xuan, the mathematics department grass who could stir the entire forum by just going online.
It was just that Chen Xuan’s face was cold and didn’t represent the repeated rumors of elegance and gentleness. He was just painting intently on the ground, as if he were enchanted.
Perhaps it was due to the surroundings being too quiet, or maybe silence could awaken something, but the people who broke in finally recovered. They remembered what their goal was. They obviously came here to kill!
Invariably, they scattered in all directions and stepped on the floor covered with dense lines in an encircling formation.
As if foreseeing something, the movements of all the people in black stagnated. It felt like the air was suddenly sucked out, and all the figures in black suddenly dropped everything in their hands, like puppets whose strings broke, and sat down in unison.
The figures in black stopped painting, and the intruders standing outside the encirclement stopped moving forward again. They set their sights on the ground again, and some even stood on their tiptoes. They saw a pattern composed of many lines. The pattern was like an ancient totem with terrifying magic power…
The surrounding atmosphere was weird. They felt as if the pattern was a graveyard, with stone monuments and bones scattered about and the sounds of beasts roaring.
In fact, it was extraordinarily quiet in the small building with no sound around, but suddenly there was a voice like a white light shattering the night. In the darkness of the small building, it echoed loudly.
“Books are the grave of knowledge.”
Someone began to chant.
It was a figure dressed in black that sat in the far corner. His voice was eloquent, and it had a mysterious power, as if it could enchant people.
It was as if the believers were reciting doctrines. The rest of the people in black were chanting devotionally with him. Those vast voices seemed to be able to penetrate time and space, leading people into a barren and dark world.
“Blind obedience is the grave of wisdom.”
The second chant sounded, causing the intruders to tremble again. They all stayed in place, not knowing what was going on.
The grand chanting sounded again. This time, one of the intruders began to act. He clenched the handle of the knife and quietly walked towards the leader dressed in black.
“A prophet is the grave of future generations.”
The last sentence ended abruptly, and the word grave hadn’t been completely said.
This wasn’t because the leader suddenly realized that the group of intruders was surrounding them, but for a more serious reason. There was a snow-white knife pressed against his neck.
Despite this, the atmosphere remained calm.
The people in black didn’t stop chanting because their leader was attacked. They remained still, and their breathing didn’t even change.
But in the eyes of some, it was a tense moment like when the heart was about to stop beating.
In a room on the highest floor of the small building, people were standing in front of the screen with bated breath. They watch the blade close in on the neck of the leader in black. After a while, everyone’s eyes turned to Xing Conglian.
However, Xing Conglian didn’t move. Although the sniper’s requested instructions were coming through on his headset and the surrounding eyes were all eager, he didn’t order to shoot.
He looked at the person whose life was in danger on the screen without saying a word.
Also not saying a word was a man who was held at knifepoint.
The man was sitting cross-legged. His complexion was pale, and his hair color was soft. While he wasn’t as handsome as Chen Xuan, the temperament he exuded was far better than that of the school grass that had not yet left campus.
This was the reason why Shen Ran chose this person to start with.
No matter where they look, this person was the leader of “Three Graves”. Throughout history, it had always been the same principle that the king should be captured first.
As long as he killed this person… As long as he killed this person…
Shen Ran thought this silently, but suddenly realized he couldn’t think.
Then what? Kill this person, and then what?
At that moment, his heart suddenly became flustered, and he didn’t know what he should do.
Tap… Tap…
At this moment, in the silent space, calm footsteps suddenly sounded. The sound was getting closer and closer to him…
Shen Ran raised his head abruptly and saw a man standing on the stairs.
Unlike all the people in black, the man wore the most ordinary white shirt. The light that was falling from the ceiling seemed to penetrate through the man’s thin body.
Step by step, the man walked onto the totem on the ground. In an instant, as if someone had brushed away the flowing water, the man in black who had been stationary moved again. They all stood up, bowed to the man, and then retreated to the side.
What was the use of retreating to the side? This damn person still had to die.
Shen Ran pressed the blade tightly to the hostage’s neck when he suddenly recognized the man in the white shirt that stood in front of him. “Are you Lin Chen?” he asked coldly.
“Yes.” Lin Chen looked at the boy in front of him. He was about the same age as Wang Chao, perhaps even a little older than him, but not by much.
However, there was no youthful vitality that young people should have in that boy’s eyes. How could he describe it? Those eyes were radiant, as if there was a flame burning inside. Although they were bright, they didn’t have a beautiful feeling, but the eyes of youth should be beautiful. The gaze of teenagers should be youthful and lively, like the world was moving, but in those eyes, Lin Chen only saw flames and ashes after the flames had burned out.
“Are you the leader of the Three Graves?”
When the boy asked this, he secretly glanced at the person he had taken hostage, as if he were unclear about the situation.
“Did you misunderstand something?”
Lin Chen didn’t speak. It was the person who was taken hostage who spoke.
Lin Chen looked at Mr. Hostage, and Mr. Hostage blinked slightly at him.
Looking at the blade on Su Fengzi’s neck and his relaxed face, Lin Chen regretted his arrangement for a moment. After all, Su Fengzi was an uncontrollable person. No matter how he had previously admonished people like Su Fengzi, if they wanted to say or do something, there was no stopping them.
Before the boy could respond, Su Fengzi reversed the grip on the knife that was placed against his neck.
The boy didn’t seem to expect him to be so bold. He jerked his hand hard, but the knife seemed as if it were held by iron pliers and wouldn’t budge even an inch.
Of course, there had to be a price paid when human flesh competed with an iron blade. Blood instantly stained the entire blade surface, and it fell, drop by drop, but Su Fengzi seemed unfazed.
Perhaps it was the expression on Su Fengzi’s face that was too cold, or maybe his unawareness of pain was too appalling, but the boy suddenly let go of the hilt of the knife and took two violent steps back, gasping in great fright.
“Who the hell are you people?!”
“Don’t you already know?” Su Fengzi took the fruit knife in his hand and played with it as he asked rhetorically, looking quite indifferent. “We’re Three Graves. Three Graves are us…”
“You destroyed our home!” The boy’s face suddenly stiffened as he accused the man sharply.
“Ah, is that your home? I’m sorry…” Although he apologized, with his slightly raised chin and the contempt in his eyes, he didn’t even seem half-remorseful. “Don’t misunderstand. We just thought it would be fun.”
There was no explanation because he didn’t think he needed to explain it to them. In fact, it wasn’t a provocation. It was just fun, and that was enough.
“Fun?”
Probably the most annoying people were the ones they hated, but the other side didn’t care about them and smeared them, humiliated them, and defiled them, all for the sake of fun.
The young people standing a little further away heard this and became angry again. “Ran Ge, don’t talk nonsense with them. We’re here to kill them!”
“Do you have the right to open your mouth in this place?” Su Fengzi glanced at the noisy onlookers, then he said impatiently, “The tour is over. Shouldn’t you guys get lost?”
The more disdain he showed, the more riled up people became.
“Of course we’ll leave after we finish what we have to do!” the boy said coldly.
“What do you have to do here?” Su Fengzi suddenly laughed as if he thought the boy’s words were too funny. He stretched out his hand and pointed to a figure in black behind him. “This is the lowest IQ we have here, 141. Please, tell me. How high is your IQ, and how many trophies have you won? Are you a genius? If you’re not, what qualifications do you have to stand here?”
As he spoke, there was a sense of dominating arrogance.
The boy was obviously blindsided by this sentence, and he didn’t know how to answer for a while. His companions behind him reacted faster. They all raised their weapons in their hands and charged forward.
Su Fengzi stood still, alone, and proud.
Lin Chen, who was still in front of him, also remained quiet.
On one side were armed and angry students, and on the other side were unarmed, speechless people in black.
Like flames and seawater or man and the abyss, they were never compatible. One party would always devour the other.
In the room upstairs, Jiang Chao finally couldn’t bear it. He held down Xing Conglian’s shoulder and said angrily in a low voice, “Lao Xing, I must ensure the safety of the other students!”
He was of course referring to ordinary students who were dressed in black and were playing as members of “Three Graves”.
However, just like Lin Chen, who was quiet as water, Xing Conglian didn’t speak. He put his hands together against his chin, but his gaze never shifted from the surveillance screen.
This was either a speechless, tacit understanding or a much deeper trust.
Just as Xing Conglian was about to gesture to Jiang Chao to keep quiet, Lin Chen moved. The students who were about to rush up were also frightened by his action.
Everyone in front of the surveillance screens was sweating. Just as they were about to breathe a sigh of relief, they accidentally saw that Lin Chen didn’t actually mean to speak up. He just put his hands in his pockets, turned around, and made a gesture of leaving.
“Stop!” the students behind him shouted loudly.
But Lin Chen didn’t listen. At this moment, Su Fengzi took a step and stood in front of Lin Chen. He said it in a disdainful and arrogant tone, as if the world owed him millions. “Get out of here. Haven’t you caused enough trouble? Coming here to kill people… What are you? Three? I just left a message on the wall, hoping you would restrain yourself. Do you really think you’re invincible?”
Hearing Su Fengzi’s words, those young boys and girls all gasped as their eyes flushed with anger, as if they would turn rabid like a herd of beasts in the next moment.
But perhaps it was because the wound on Su Fengzi’s hand was too scary or maybe his face had an inviolable cold feeling under the dim light, that the intruders paused for a moment.
Su Fengzi showed contempt and didn’t give those people any reaction time. “Digging a grave and watching people lie in it gets your blood boiling and makes you feel as if you’re one of the most transcendent and mysterious collective? Do you think you have true faith and everyone else is just ignorant?”
—-
“Lao Xing, what the hell are they doing? Are they not afraid of provoking a bunch of psychopaths and fucking looking for death?!” In front of the surveillance screen, Jiang Chao once again shrieked.
Xing Conglian raised his head and looked around, only to find that everyone in the room was giving him an anxious look.
“Lao Jiang…” Xing Conglian finally spoke. He moved a teacup on the table to the side, “Would you like to have some tea?”
“Drink your mom’s tea! We have to hurry if something really happens!”
“Hey, we’re performing official duties. Please be more civilized,” Xing Conglian said with a smile.
Jiang Chao became extremely angry. “Why the hell can’t we rush down and catch all them at once?” While speaking, he made the gesture of catching a turtle with a jar.
Hearing this, Xing Conglian’s gaze fell on Lin Chen on the screen again.
What Lin Chen said to him during breakfast echoed in his ears.
Specifically, it was probably something he said late last night that had some effect. When the police force distributed breakfast at 7 in the morning, Lin Chen specially brought him a box of yogurt and invited him to have breakfast together.
The two of them squatted down next to the stone lion at the entrance of the second division and watched the street sweepers cleaning the ground.
“The next action will be a little dangerous…” Lin Chen said to him after watching the sanitation worker sweep up the streets for a minute.
Xing Conglian probably guessed what he was going to say but still pretended not to understand. “Of course it’s dangerous. You have to pay attention to safety.”
As he spoke, he saw Lin Chen’s breathing stagnate. It seemed Lin Chen didn’t expect him to play dumb. After all, Lin Chen was a far more thorough person than ordinary people. “I’m very sorry regarding what you said earlier. This is indeed my problem, so I want to try and correct it.”
The other party was so sincere that it made Xing Conglian speechless. “Why are you so polite?”
“Because there is a troublesome matter that needs your help.” Lin Chen took a deep breath and said, “I hope you can delay the police’s arrest time as much as possible. Unless someone is seriously threatened, I hope you can order the snipers not to shoot.”
“What do you mean?”
“When the members of that group walk into the building, it stands to reason that the police would make an arrest at the appropriate time, right?”
“Of course.”
“But after catching them, then what?” Lin Chen asked rhetorically.
“Interrogate them severely, bully them to force them to give up the mastermind behind all this. Then we’ll go arrest them… You want to say that this is useless, right?”
Lin Chen shook his head.
Although it was a serious conversation, Xing Conglian wanted to laugh. “In fact, I suddenly found that you have been instilling this concept in us. That is, after catching them, our interrogation won’t work, but in addition to interrogation, if we manage to catch them by surprise, they won’t have time to wipe off the data on their communication devices or other clues. We can still follow the trail and find the mastermind behind this, can’t we?”
“No,” Lin Chen said decisively.
“Why?”
“Do you think it’s important to catch the mastermind behind the scenes?”
“Isn’t it?” Xing Conglian responded rhetorically.
“It is, but that person is far less important than those children. If we catch that person, we may lose the opportunity to save these children forever.”
When he heard Lin Chen talking about children, he was confused for a moment, but he soon realized that the children Lin Chen was referring to were members of that group; those who had lost their humanity and were regraded by them as terrorists.
Rescuing terrorists was indeed a fresh statement.
In countless similar experiences in his life, he had never compromised with any enemy, let alone saved the hearts of criminals. This was what a saint should do, not the police.
But he didn’t refuse Lin Chen. He quietly listened as Lin Chen continued.
“Yes, we can catch the turtle with a jar, but when those children see the police rushing in, they will be shocked, but more so they will be angry because they have found that they have been betrayed by the world again. They will try their best to revolt, which will cause some people to be injured and others to be killed. They will really lose their sense of trust in everything in the world. They may go to prison or a detention center, and with some luck, some of them will realize their problems, but most people tend to be stubborn. After those people are released, they will be garbage and waste, the dregs of society. They will be desperate, feel pain, and abhor everything, and finally continue to retaliate against the world. Do you think this is the solution to the problem?”
Xing Conglian was speechless when he was asked this.
He could, of course, refute. He could say that there was very likely a no all-win situation ending in this world. It was very likely that a person could do everything right but still not get the happy ending that they desired. Those people were already broken, like organs eroded by cancer. Although it was painful and regrettable, it must be removed. There was no other option.
Inexplicably, deep in his heart, he actually felt a little uncomfortable. In fact, he hadn’t felt uncomfortable for a long time.
Lin Chen was still talking. Perhaps his legs were so numb from squatting too long that he stood up and leaned against the stone lion.
The shape of the stone lion was a bit funny, but Lin Chen’s face was solemn.
“Some crimes come from malice, some from cowardice, and some from the inability to control themselves. To me, they are more like children suffering from mental illnesses. They are first and foremost individuals with low self-esteem and are introverted. Because of this characteristic, they are exploited by criminals and deceived by the people they once trusted and loved. That’s a terrible hell. Do you think that when they enter that group, the first thing they experience is the welcome of love? No, the first thing they suffer is abuse—the abuse and destruction of their spiritual beliefs.”
“Are you trying to say that criminals are also victims?” Xing Conglian’s tone was a bit cold.
“Do you think that no matter what kind of suffering they suffer, they should also stick to their hearts and not be swayed by criminals? But unfortunately, they are just ordinary students. They can’t resist human nature. People tend to avoid pain. If pain is inevitable, they will choose to correct their perception to adapt to the pain. It’s like a man imprisoning a woman. He desperately abuses that woman, and once the woman can’t bear the abuse, she will begin to correct her cognition and regard the man’s behavior towards her as love, and then fall in love with him. Psychologically, this process is called ‘learned helplessness*’.”
*Behavior exhibited by a subject after enduring repeated adverse stimuli beyond their control.
Lin Chen’s voice was as faint as ever, but Xing Conglian heard the unstoppable, cold meaning behind his words.
“They will gradually fall in love with that group and accept the concept instilled in them by the group. Once they truly integrate into it, there will be a phenomenon of de-personalization. The identity of the individual with the group drowns out their humanity, and then they begin to lose themselves…”
“Losing oneself means losing their humanity. They only accept the instructions of the group because, fundamentally, they are no longer them. Those sinful thoughts are only the will of the group, not theirs.”
Hearing this, Xing Conglian understood why Lin Chen had told him in the beginning why those children weren’t real terrorists.
Before they lost their humanity, they were just selected victims, and before they became victims, they were ordinary students who had beautiful fantasies about life but weren’t ambitious, and in the identity of ordinary students, their previous identity was human.
They were all living, breathing humans.
Then, saving the lives of other students was as important as saving their lives.
Xing Conglian suddenly had confidence in Lin Chen’s plan, because he found that even he himself was convinced.
Sure enough, Lin Chen was right. He was really persuasive.
So maybe—maybe it was too naïve—too idealistic, too weird, but perhaps Lin Chen could really save those children’s lives.
“What if I refuse?” Xing Conglian suddenly asked.
After he finished speaking, he saw Lin Chen look at him impatiently as if saying, “Why are you talking nonsense?”
—-
Su Fengzi’s incessant words passed through the headset and into Xing Conglian’s ears. Naturally, these lines were all written by Lin Chen, but the performance seemed quite personal.
Lin Chen stated that he would allow Su Fengzi to repeat the entire process of brainwashing and attempt to wash them back.
The first step was to force them to the extreme.
Crowds were extreme; therefore, they would only be moved by extreme emotions. If he wanted to move them, he had to become more extreme than them…
Xing Conglian looked at the stallion novel writer with first-class acting skills.
Su Fengzi, like the great orators of ancient times, possessed demagoguery magic when he was eloquent.
He said, “You were tricked into this collective at the beginning, and then they locked you up, abused you, ridiculed you, and told you that this was a process of suffering that you must go through in the transformation of human nature. At that time, you were alone and helpless. There was no way to ask for help, and then a group of people ran to you and preached about the transformation they had undergone through tempering, telling you how they changed from an obscure ugly duckling to a noble swan. They said that as long as you believe in them and join them, you can do it too… And you gradually believed it?” The corners of Su Fengzi’s lips curled, and he gave a look of contempt at all the intruders. “Did you go pick up vegetable leaves and eat rotten fruits together? Oh, they told you that this is called sharing joys and sorrows, and then you were satisfied and could suffer a little together. You feel that each of you were indispensable companions. Do you think it’s good to go to bed together? Modern society calls this a hookup. Don’t get distracted by how naïve you really are.”
With his words, those young faces gradually showed awkward and confused expressions. Su Fengzi’s mockery skills were too great. He knew even their most secret things clearly, but how?
In front of true elites, their low self-esteem and cowardly personalities reappeared.
But this confusion only lasted for a short time before anger took hold again. After all, their privacy was discovered, and their faith was trampled on. This was an intolerable insult.
Their faces were flushed, and the anger in their eyes seemed to burn everything to ashes.
This was really an extremely dangerous situation. Facing a group of fanatics, defiling their group was even more unacceptable than killing them!
—-
The fierce changes in the emotions of the intruders were, of course, seen by the surveillance team upstairs. Two students were already very close. They raised their steel pipes and were about to bash Su Fengzi’s head in.
Jiang Chao finally couldn’t bear it. “Action, action,” he ordered through the wireless headset.
But gunshots didn’t sound, and there was no sound coming from his headset.
“Hey, hey!” He yelled at the microphone twice more but still didn’t get a response. It was obvious now that his equipment was useless.
He quickly remembered that earlier today, Xing Conglian had told him that because the police might be insufficient, he had also asked the Interpol snipers for help. At that time, he felt Xing Conglian meant well, so he agreed. The only problem was that ICPO used different equipment and systems than them, so in the end, for the sake of smooth action, they unified and replaced all the equipment with ICPO’s more advanced wireless equipment.
Unexpectedly, Lao Xing had set him up!
“Sir Jiang, I’m sorry. I’m sorry. Our Captain asked me to do this. If you’re angry, just punch him twice to vent your anger?” In the corner, Wang Chao, who had been as quiet as a chicken, suddenly raised his head while holding a laptop and gave him a sneer.
But Jiang Chao didn’t have time to beat Xing Conglian. Su Fengzi was about to get his head bashed in, and he needed to hurry and call 120, but someone actually reached out and caught the pipe.
In fact, rather than catching, it was better to say someone reached out and took away the pipe that was about to bash Su Fengzi.
It was Lin Chen who stretched out his hand. The contact between the steel pipe and the flesh suddenly sounded. Just the clanging sound alone made his whole body ache.
Lin Chen grabbed the steel pipe.
“Fengzi.” He stopped Su Fengzi from being hit and ordered, “Apologize!”
Su Fengzi’s face was unwilling, but he obeyed Lin Chen rather abnormally. He bent his waist in an extremely elegant manner and solemnly apologized to the intruders. “I’m sorry.”
The intruders were shocked again.
It wasn’t only the young students who were shocked, but also the people watching the surveillance.
Everything happening in front of the screen was nothing but bizarre.
From beginning to end, Lin Chen showed that he was too lazy to say anything, but everyone knew he was the true leader of Three Graves.
Although his clothes were ordinary and his expression was very plain, just standing there alone and indifferently, he seemed as if he stood on an unattainable cloud that couldn’t be touched.
“What the hell are they doing?” Jiang Chao couldn’t help asking.
Xing Conglian glanced at Jiang Chao and motioned for him to shut up.
Vice Captain Jiang sat down beside him, extremely depressed. “Lao Xing, really, what does he want to do? Talk to me. Otherwise, I’m really going to rush out that door, yeah?”
“He is trying to impress them.” Xing Conglian stared at Lin Chen’s figure on the screen as he replied calmly.
Of course, Jiang Chao’s eyes were full of confusion. In short, he was trying to impress a group of brainwashed lunatics. Those who wanted to do so were probably not far from madness.
“Of course we can make arrests now, but don’t you think there are too few people downstairs?” Xing Conglian curled his fingers and tapped on the screen. “That is to say, some people in the organization are here, while others are still waiting to perform the night operation. The problem we face has not changed. Are you sure that…” Xing Conglian looked at his watch and continued, “Within three hours, they will give up?”
“Of course I’m not fucking sure! What about Lin Chen? Will he find a way to make them give up?”
Xing Conglian’s face fell on Lin Chen’s left hand holding the steel pipe. The light wasn’t good, so he couldn’t see the specific injuries. He nodded and repeated some of what Lin Chen had told him during breakfast.
“For any extreme group, they won’t listen to anything outsiders say. Then, if you want them to listen to you, you can only let them worship you. Just like animals surrendering to their leader, groups surrender to their leaders as well. This is something that’s clockwork through the times…”
“But didn’t you explain to me that the ‘Three Graves’ organization that Lin Chen fabricated was obviously used to draw hatred, but now they’re suddenly worshiping?”
Xing Conglian smiled helplessly.
“It’s actually very simple. Because these students not only belong to their mysterious collective, they also belong to ordinary student groups. When these student groups began to discuss the mysterious elite student organization and pushed up Three Graves by playing detective, they also imperceptibly affected those crazy kids downstairs. These kids… Of course, that influence is only subconscious, so their worship is also subconscious. They themselves don’t realize that although they hate ‘Three Graves’, who dare to provoke and trample on them, the root of their hatred is because ‘Three Graves’ is a superior being and a representation of their hatred of their classmates.”
While Xing Conglian was speaking, Jiang Chao had already lit a cigarette.
“Then what?” Jiang Chao asked.
“Then, according to Lin Chen’s words, the group is easily moved by the most vivid and extreme images, so, ah, he showed them the artistic process of the ‘Three Graves’’ ceremony, and a foolhardier statement is that humans are always inexplicably shocked by some seemingly supernatural phenomena. Presumably, that’s no different from ritual dancing?”
“That’s Lin Chen’s friend, Su Fengzi?”
Xing Conglian nodded. “At the beginning, they would think Su Fengzi is the leader of ‘Three Graves’, and he’s good at fooling people. He satirized and ridiculed them. In fact, this is to appear stronger than them in spirit and belief. At that time, Su Fengzi had already put them in a condescending position. Then Lin Chen made his move. He actually asked Su Fengzi to apologize. This was not only an act of gaining favor, but Su Fengzi’s obedience allowed Lin Chen to step on his shoulders and instantly walk to the alter.”
—-
Lin Chen’s gaze wandered past the children in front of him.
He looked at the faces of the young children. They were all so young—many younger than he thought. Some were restless, some were tense, some had grim expressions, some had makeup that was beginning to bleed from sweat…
Lin Chen’s gaze finally fell on a petite girl in the corner.
He knew who she was. It was Jin Xiaoan. She had a friend named Jiang Liu; a friend who was dead.
“For some reason, you hate the world. Regarding your hatred and the source of this emotion, I won’t preach about it. There’s nothing to say. If you think you have a reason to hate, then hate. This matter has nothing to do with me.”
He spoke very slowly, without any emotion.
In fact, at that time, his heart was indeed calm and indifferent. How could there be such understanding and empathy between people in this world?
“It doesn’t matter! Nothing matters! Stop acting like you care about us! Go to hell!”
The boy holding the steel pipe yelled at him. His hair was shaved to an inch, and he wasn’t tall. He was very thin and had beady eyes. Perhaps it was due to his figure that he was ridiculed and humiliated. He could have a girl that he liked, but perhaps she didn’t like him back. He could have found someone to tell them about his inner pain, but maybe there wasn’t anyone in this world who had ever listened to his heartfelt voice seriously.
Or, rather, it should be said he may not have confided his heart to the world.
In his life, he probably always lived in desperation. He longed for the beautiful, but the beautiful did not yearn for him.
Then, he met the organization. He had struggled and hesitated, but in the end, he couldn’t resist the most primitive human nature. He succumbed. He gained money, status, and women. He also discovered that loving and being loved were both truly beautiful things…
So what reason did he have to reject that organization?
Lin Chen wanted to laugh a little, but he suddenly realized that if it were him, it would probably be difficult for him to resist those beautiful temptations.
“I think you probably misunderstood. I don’t want to control you. I just know some of your stories and feel pity. In fact, I don’t think there was anything wrong with you before, and of course I don’t think there’s anything good about you now. However, we can ignore my regrets because that has nothing to do with it…”
“Shut up!” The young people in the crowd suddenly shouted, but in front of Lin Chen, their chanting didn’t seem righteous enough.
“Really?” As if to fulfill the young man’s wish, Lin Chen closed his mouth, let go of the hand holding the steel pipe, and turned and walked away.
Seeing that he was really leaving, even the elites present didn’t have the will to stay, and they all wanted to disperse.
“Stop!” the crowd behind them couldn’t help but chant.
“Do you really think that your power is enough to control everyone?” Lin Chen looked back and smiled coldly. “You can’t even control yourself.” As he spoke, he raised his wrist with some difficulty and looked at his watch. “It’s going to be 1 soon. If you can control yourself, you should know that it’s time to go to class.”
“Why are we still going to class?”
There was a mocking look on the young man’s face. Lin Chen looked at his narrowed eyes and asked rhetorically, “You asked me why you should go to class, and I should just tell you? Do you think there’s no point in going to class, no point in reading, no point in even living? This person doesn’t like you, that person doesn’t like you, the whole world doesn’t like you. You constantly think the world is ugly and filled with disgusting people, so why should you stay here?” Lin Chen took a step forward and looked down at the young man in front of him.
“Right?”
The boy with beady eyes suddenly became angry and almost hit Lin Chen with the steel pipe.
“Don’t think that I don’t know what you elites think. You look dignified, but in fact, you never even look at us. You think we’re all ugly and brainless. You look down on all of us!”
“That’s just what you think. It’s you who live in the grave of self-pity, not me,” Lin Chen said lightly.
“Just like I said!”
“That’s not true!”
Su Fengzi, who had been standing aside, suddenly spoke. His tone was very high, with a trembling ending. The shrill sound echoed throughout the old building.
No one spoke.
No one dared to speak.
“I know Jiang Liu.” In the dark and depressing space, Su Fengzi’s voice sounded again. His hand was still bleeding, but much of the blood had congealed around the wound, turning it into an ugly brown scar.
When they heard the name Jiang Liu, all the young students holding weapons couldn’t help but tremble.
“My relationship with Jiang Liu, how can I put it… She was actually my friend, or rather, my reader. She mentioned liking my books, but we had never met before she died.” Su Fengzi’s voice was soft. He seemed to be trying his best to suppress himself, and his voice trembled a bit. “When we first met, Jiang Liu wrote to them and told me she thought she looked ugly. She said her eyes were particularly convex and her nose was too flat. Her skin wasn’t good and was full of pits and potholes, making her look like a toad. So the reason why she liked my books was also simple. She said she envied the girls I wrote about. They were so good-looking, and they were so happy to have handsome boys who liked them. She envied them deeply. She said she really wanted to be loved, but no one loves her. At that time, I didn’t know how to comfort a sad girl. It was too difficult for me, as I always felt that it wasn’t easy to be loved by others. As long as you dress up beautifully, naturally some boys will confess to you, but in fact, I forgot that people are different. Some are confident, and some have low self-esteem. I forgot that for some people, it’s just something that can be done easily, while for others, it takes all their effort to muster their only remaining courage to do it. You see, the world is unfair. At that time, I couldn’t appreciate the mood of a girl with extremely low self-esteem, and I couldn’t imagine how much courage it took for her to show me a picture. When I saw her picture, I even thought she was being pretentious. She wasn’t as ugly as she said. She was pure and cute. Perhaps it was for this reason that I didn’t pay attention to her, but one day, she suddenly told me that her respected senior had brought her into a new world. She felt that she could really become a girl that many, many people loved, like in my writing, but I still ignored her, thinking she was crazy. Until one day, she suddenly contacted me and said that she wanted to invite me to her next performance. I didn’t want to go, but I was a bit curious about what she had become now, so I arrived at the agreed place, but what I saw was her figure leaping down from the sky.” Su Fengzi paused and laughed self-deprecatingly. “I’m not the kind of person who will regret this kind of thing painfully, but I still have some remorse. She can’t hear me praise her beauty. After all, I wouldn’t agree to go meet a dinosaur.”
Su Fengzi’s voice floated gently in the ears of the students. He had already finished speaking, but no one spoke. Everyone was silent, and the first person to cry was the girl in the corner who had just finished eating her buns.
“Is this a good sign?” Jiang Chao pointed to the crying girl on the screen as he asked.
“Of course. Sincere tears mean that they feel sad, and it is people who can feel pain and sadness,” Xing Conglian replied.
—-
In that dark hall, Lin Chen was still calm, like a cloud in the night sky or a wind higher than the clouds.
He said, “In fact, when Jiang Liu jumped from the rooftop, I was also there, because my shimei also jumped from there. I don’t really know her that well. She may have been in too much pain and wanted to seek relief through death, but for me, I have always regretted that I did not save her, because if possible, I still hope to have another drink with her.”
Lin Chen stretched out his hand and gently rubbed the hair of the boy with beady eyes that was in front of him and said, “You actually don’t need the group to give you the illusion of being loved. There might not be many people in the world who like you, but there are always one or two who truly love you sincerely and unreservedly.”
“If you come out, you will see it.” He let go of the hand covering the boy’s hair and said, half idly, half seriously, “Although it’s just my hope, and this hope has nothing to do with you, I hope that no matter how unbearable the world is, you can hold on, come out, and take a look at it again.”
—-
Su Fengzi wasn’t a good person.
To a large extent, he matched Fu Hao’s comments about being a “despicable, shameless, sinister, and nasty person”, but even Fu Hao couldn’t deny that Su Fengzi was an excellent storyteller. He was elegant, full of passion, and possessed bewitching powers as he stood there telling a story.
Because the half-true, half-false story told by Su Fengzi was too moving, those children really let go of the idea of burning the world in the end. Maybe even the people behind the scenes didn’t expect that their seemingly invincible organization would fall apart in an instant.
Su Fengzi was dragged away by an ambulance because of his serious hand injury, and Jiang Chao had already started a real net collection operation based on the many clues provided by the students. Xing Conglian, of course, was excluded because of certain “betrayal” behaviors.
At this moment, he and Lin Chen were sitting side by side in the corridor of Yongchuan University Hospital. Lin Chen’s wrist was lifted high, and there was an ice pack that the nurse gave him pressing on it.
Half an hour ago, Lin Chen refused to go to the hospital with Su Fengzi. Xing Conglian knew he probably wanted to be alone, so they had been sitting in the corridor for 20 minutes. He wanted to talk, but he didn’t say a word.
The school hospital of Yongchuan University didn’t have the cold atmosphere of ordinary hospitals that they were used to. It was lively around them. Students always got sick or injured together, so sometimes it was quiet and other times it was clamorous.
They appeared to be at a time when business was booming.
Xing Conglian looked at the basketball players whose names had just been called in front of them, and he counted them. According to the doctor’s current consultation speed, they would probably have to wait another half hour. Just as he was looking around, he suddenly heard Lin Chen speak.
“Today, thank you very much.”
Xing Conglian suspected there was something wrong with his hearing. He turned his head to look at Lin Chen in disbelief, completely shocked.
“You don’t need to say those polite or self-depreciating words. I said thank you because I wanted to thank you. If you weren’t here today and were replaced by someone else, there wouldn’t be an all-win possibility.”
After Lin Chen finished speaking, he found that Xing Conglian hadn’t responded for a long time, so he finally looked beside him.
Xing Conglian lowered his eyes and took out a cigarette and lighter from his pocket. He held those two things in his hand without making any movement.
“What’s the matter?” Lin Chen asked.
“Smoking isn’t allowed in the hospital,” Xing Conglian said.
Naturally, people like Xing Conglian wouldn’t be sad if they couldn’t smoke. In fact, the word sad wasn’t really suited for him. “If you’re in a bad mood, you can tell me.”
“It’s not that I’m in a bad mood, it’s just that I’ve always thought people have the ability and must control themselves, but the longer I stay with you, the more I realize that it’s really easy for people to lose control.,” Xing Conglian said as he stuffed the cigarette in his mouth but didn’t light it. “I want to smoke a cigarette really badly, so I took it out. It feels so natural…”
“If it’s natural, then what’s the problem?”
Xing Conglian turned the cigarette pack over and handed it to Lin Chen. “Look, it says smoking is harmful for your health, so should I not smoke?” He inserted the cigarette back into the pack. “I have never had the idea of quitting, but just now, I suddenly thought of doing it, and it already made me feel uncomfortable. I think I probably won’t be able to quit smoking in this life.”
Lin Chen looked at Xing Conglian’s annoyed face and wanted to say, “If you can’t quit, you can’t. Besides, I don’t care if you smoke or not.”
However, he naturally knew what Xing Conglian really wanted to say.
“Do you feel pain?” he asked.
“It’s painful.”
“Then congratulations, you’re still alive.” Lin Chen pressed the ice pack in his hand and grimaced in pain as he continued, “And, congratulations, when you feel pain because you’re trying to control yourself, it means that you’re fighting against bad habits for a beautiful and healthy life.”
“Is this the tone you take when you do psychological counseling?” Xing Conglian curled his lips as if he disliked him for being too casual.
“If I adjust my tune, the fees are generally higher,” Lin Chen replied.
Xing Conglian couldn’t help laughing. He stretched out his hand and took the ice pack from Lin Chen’s hand and applied it to him. “I just suddenly understood what you said about being unable to control yourself because you have to control your greed, fear, vanity, and laziness to get better. Life is really too painful, so that’s why those children chose a different path.”
Lin Chen looked at Xing Conglian’s relaxed, peaceful, and profound gaze and felt his heart tremble.
Indeed, they were just ordinary people who yearned for a better life but were led astray because of their simple yearning.
Perhaps because there were too many books that portrayed the beauty of life when, in fact, life was originally a painful journey.
As for human nature, the reason it was great was because everyone was born with the nature of fighting against greed, fear, vanity, selfishness, stupidity, laziness, and cruelty. Even if sometimes the power of this kind of struggle was small and desperate, it always existed.
People always suffered because of struggle, but they could also be called human because of these struggles.
“The hero of that story shouldn’t be Jiang Liu.”
Xing Conglian suddenly remembered that if Su Fengzi had approached Fu Hao long before the jumping case, he didn’t actually appear because of Jiang Liu.
But if not her, then who?
He also realized that the reason they were able to solve everything smoothly was because Wang Shishi left her book behind.
It may have been that she forgot to deal with it, or it may have been a negligent mistake, but in the end, Wang Shishi still left that book behind in the last moments of her life.
Kinky Translations 