Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 45: Ghost Market

On Sunday, Zhong Chengshuo went to his secret warehouse on his usual “night run”.

After wiping off the sweat, he skillfully entered the communication portal for the Nightwalkers.

If one wasn’t privy to the inside story, the website would look like a third-rate movie review site. Only by selecting the right work and typing in the correct login and password at the review page could you enter the hidden page.

Such entry procedures should be frequently changed, but the Nightwalkers were a loose organization. The movie <Interview with the Vampire> hadn’t been changed in over a year.

Zhong Chengshuo didn’t even bother looking at the overly familiar poster and went straight to the rating section, where he skillfully logged into his account “yamaglad*”.

*Clarity: Originally written in English. This is also the reason why I decided to translate the nickname the Nightwalkers gave him as King Yama.

Next to the computer, a strand of black hair floated in the glass tube, emitting a faint light. This time, the loading was slower than before. While waiting, Zhong Chengshuo picked up the glass tube and turned it around.

After half a minute, Zhong Chengshuo finally understood why the webpage was stuck—in the online chat room, there were hundreds of people chatting feverishly.

Nightwalkers, as the name implied, preferred to socialize at night. Now that so many had put their business aside for gossip, something must have happened.

The news was frantically being swiped that Zhong Chengshuo only had time to see the last paragraph clearly.

[Lao Zhang Pancake Fruit 028: The one surnamed Lu is crazy!!!]

[No Head: He dared compare himself to King Yama. He sure has guts.]

[BOOS Supreme Evil Emperor: Laughing to death. King Yama won’t bother to pay attention to him. He will become a ghost first.]

[Lao Zhang Pancake Fruit 028: No, is he an idiot? In broad daylight, under the sun, that surname Lu dares to kill people!!! He even said he murdered 7! And then he went to the police station and provoked them!!!]

Zhong Chengshuo hovered the mouse over the word “murdered” and highlighted it.

[No Head: That’s right. When did Lu Guangzu have such courage? Is this going to piss off the Lu Family?]

[My Name is Little Red Riding Hood: I’m already pissed off just from reading this.]

[Favorite Sky: Grandma’s making a big fuss. Our family hasn’t been involved in criminal cases for many years. Just as luck would have it, the heavens blessed us with a serial murder.]

[Xinxin Kennel: Tsk tsk. I didn’t see Lao Lu before. Turns out he’s a big one.]

[yamaglad: ?]

As soon as this ID appeared, the chat room suddenly fell into dead silence. The raving chatter of hundreds of people stopped abruptly. It was a bit too sudden to join the gossip directly, so Zhong Chengshuo thought for a moment and opted to greet them as usual.

[yamaglad: Accepting tricky tasks, only for evil things. Two-way choice. Don’t bother with miscellaneous matters.]

[yamaglad: Private message if interested. Deadline is one minute.]

Then Zhong Chengshuo remained silent.

Recently, it had been quite peaceful, so after a long time, no one dared to private message him. The screen moved slightly as chat records continued to cautiously spit out new messages.

[My Name is Little Red Riding Hood: King Yama, we’ll take good care of Lu Guangzu. The Lu Family has absolutely no intention of targeting you.]

[yamaglad: Oh.]

Zhong Chengshuo took out a small leather notepad and wrote down the name “Lu Guangzu” in one stroke. He also added “Child of the Lu Family?” to the note.

[yamaglad: Oh.]

[yamaglad: Getting off.]

However, he didn’t go offline immediately. After putting away his notepad, Zhong Chengshuo stared at the online chat for a while. The chat room quickly became lively again, but there was a trace of panic in the atmosphere.

[BOOS Supreme Evil Emperor: Truly worthy of King Yama. I told you he wouldn’t be interested.]

[Xingwang Repair Station (come here for all household and spiritual appliance repair): He?! What if it’s a woman?]

[My Name is Little Red Riding Hood: I’d better talk to my family again. King Yama has helped us with the 100-year-old ghost before.]

[My Name is Little Red Riding Hood: I can’t have ta* put this account on the Lu Family’s head.]

*Originally in English. When written in English online, it refers to addressing someone whose gender is unknown. 

[Favorite Sky: I don’t think they will. King Yama doesn’t seem to be interested in the living.]

[Sister Xu Spicy Hotpot—Number to Order 1xxxx680184: It has nothing to do with King Yama. It’s a homicide case, right? The police will deal with it, so let’s not worry about it.]

[Sister Xu Spicy Hotpot—Number to Order 1xxxx680184: And isn’t Shian intervening? I heard that their new recruits are pretty good.]

[My Name is Little Red Riding Hood: Xu Jie, don’t poke people’s scars. T_T I failed to go ashore again this year.]

[BOOS Supreme Evil Emperor: If King Yama goes to Shian, he will definitely pass on the first try.]

[Favorite Sky: ? Would King Yama even put up with the exams? Shian’s exam goes for four to five rounds.]

[Favorite Sky: ta must be the kind of big brother who’s uninhibited and indulgent. You know what I mean.]

……

Seeing that the topic had switched to crying about how difficult it was to enter Shian, Zhong Chengshuo silently turned off the computer.

Forget it. Since Shian was intervening, he wouldn’t be able to hear the slightest wind.

After this, the “uninhibited and indulgent” King Yama would go to his parents’ home to get braised pigs’ trotters and share them with his roommate, who was happily watching dramas at home. Recently, every time he opened the door after his night run, Yin Ren would stand at the door and greet him with a smile so bright that it was blinding.

Because the two elders didn’t have positive feelings and were afraid their son and his hard-earned “friend” would be at odds, the dishes they made were increasingly biased towards Yin Ren’s taste.

In fact, even if he looked at him with the most discerning eye, Zhong Chengshuo couldn’t find any problems with Yin Ren.

Yin Ren was obviously not a sophisticated character, but after they lived together, Zhong Chengshuo found that he had never seen messy clothes, takeout boxes, or delivery boxes scattered around the home. Every evening, Yin Ren would broadcast their work status to “Love Each Other Like Family” to reassure the two elders.

After thinking about it carefully, Zhong Chengshuo realized that he had never seen Yin Ren unhappy because of something. That person looked carefree every day.

Zhong Chengshuo sadly looked at the test tube in his hand.

He must observe that person harder.

……

Monday night, 8:00 p.m., inside Shian’s special car.

The car was driving fairly smoothly. Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo were huddled in the back seat, looking at an image on the same tablet.

“Lu Guangzu, 26 years old, unemployed. Five years ago, this person began to operate as a ‘Nightwalker’. Lu Guangzu is tentatively considered a ghost master, but he actually mainly did intermediary work during missions, and his reputation and ability are quite poor.”

It was rare that there wasn’t any bloody mosaic on Lu Xiaohe’s screen. In the picture, there was a young man with yellow hair rolling his eyes and showing a wicked expression.

In the video screen in the lower right corner, Lu Xiaohe herself had her hair tied up in a bun and was wearing a simple polka dot shirt. She looked like the girl next door.

She didn’t stay in Shian but took another special car with Ge Tingting.

At this moment, Lu Xiaohe was sitting in the front passenger seat, trying to hold a camera steady.

“Lu Guangzu is somewhat related to the Lu Family in Haigu, but he’s not welcomed by them. He’s been cheating and scamming and has been involved in all kinds of dirty work. He likes to provoke strong people to increase his popularity, but he has never done something like this—”

The screen was replaced with a police interrogation video. In the video, Lu Guangzu was yelling, “If this wave is successful, I’ll definitely be comparable with ‘King Yama’.”

Zhong Chengshuo: “…”

Yin Ren keenly turned his head. “What’s the matter, Zhong Ge? Do you know this Lu Guangzu?”

Zhong Chengshuo: “No, I just think this person is a bit naïve.”

“It’s really too arrogant for a living person to compare himself with King Yama,” Yin Ren deeply agreed.

“The ‘King Yama’ he’s talking about is not King Yama in the conventional sense.”

At the other end of the video, Lu Xiaohe cleared her throat and looked solemn.

“’King Yama’ is recognized as the strongest of the Nightwalkers. This person’s gender, age, and abilities are all unknown. He began his activities seven years ago, specializing in hunting evil things. King Yama has solved cases at the level of a Class-A Investigation Team, such as ‘the underground corpse nest in the heart of Luotian City’ and ‘the 100-year-old ghost in the western suburbs of Haigu’—as far as we know, ‘King Yama’ acts alone without a partner to take care of him.”

“Shian once evaluated the strength of King Yama. In terms of efficiency in destroying evil things, this person’s ability is comparable to that of Minister Fu Xingchuan. Logically speaking, this person shouldn’t be someone Lu Guangzu would target.”

Yin Ren: “Wow…”

The name “King Yama” was interesting. It matched “Death” quite a bit.

From the corner of his eyes, he looked at Zhong Chengshuo—the lights outside the car window swept on Zhong Chengshuo’s face from time to time, but Yin Ren couldn’t see any expression on it.

“Before this incident, Lu Guangzu’s provocations were limited to speaking out.” Zhong Chengshuo flipped through the report. “And ‘King Yama’ specializes in killing evil things. He claimed to have killed seven living people and went to provoke the police and Shian. This logic is too strange… Did he provide information about the deceased?”

“That’s the problem,” Lu Xiaohe said. “He didn’t give any names. He said it’s a game of ‘hide and seek’. There are many missing people in Haigu. Officer Sun is already investigating.”

Thinking about Excel, Yin Ren felt a chill down his spine. “Should we also…”

“Don’t worry. It’s not certain that this matter has anything to do with metaphysical factors, so we don’t need to intervene immediately.” Lu Xiaohe smiled mysteriously. “Well now, let’s have a welcome meal first.”

Haigu was big, so Yin Ren didn’t expect to recognize their destination…

Sister Xu Spicy Hotpot.

In the case of Feng Qi and Ge Tingting, Sun Qinghui had brought them here. The taste of this hotpot was quite good.

The proprietress, Xu Fang, was obviously impressed by the two’s outstanding looks. Before Yin Ren entered, she greeted him warmly. “Hey, you two are here again. Where’s Lao Sun?”

“Uncle Sun isn’t here. It’s me this time~” Lu Xiaohe entered next. “Xu Jie, I’m bringing a new member to dinner. There’s stir fry tonight, right?”

Ge Tingting hid timidly behind her, holding the unopened gift in her arms. To her, the atmosphere at Sister Xu Spicy Hotpot was extremely cordial.

Returning to a familiar environment, Ge Tingting relaxed a bit.

“Yes, yes. This girl is too thin, so we have to fatten her up.” Xu Jie smiled again. “You guys can sit at the table in the back. It’s quiet there.”

Although Ge Tingting had joined Unit 9 in name, the girl had been learning to read lips during the day and hadn’t officially moved into the office yet.

According to the Shian’s psychiatrist, Ge Tingting was attacked by Wu Tao, so she still had psychological trauma towards adult men. Even if Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo were as beautiful as two flowers, it didn’t make Ge Tingting feel much better. This kind of thing had to be done slowly.

So, Lu Xiaohe, as the senior employee of Shian, skillfully organized a meal.

“Are you hungry? Sorry, it’s a bit late.” Lu Xiaohe sat next to Ge Tingting. “Let me introduce myself. I’m Lu Xiaohe. My family runs a small supermarket.”

Ge Tingting looked at her phone—Shian had installed a special translation software for her that converted the words spoken by Lu Xiaohe into text in real time.

Lu Xiaohe slowed down her speech and continued to introduce. “This long-haired brother is Yin Ren. He also encountered a very bad thing and is now recuperating in Shian… The brother who’s wearing glasses is Zhong Chengshuo. His parents are both policemen. Your gift was specially chosen by him.”

Ge Tingting pursed her lips and nodded politely at the two of them. Then she grabbed her phone tightly and typed quickly.

Shian—Small Work Group.

[Ear Person: Thank you for your gift.]

[Ear Person: ^-^]

[Final Fruit: You’re welcome.]

[Fruit Knife: ↑ This is Zhong Chengshuo. @Milky Way is Lu Xiaohe. You can always come to us if you need anything.]

[Ear Person: Okay.]

Yin Ren put down his phone and looked outside. This angle was a bit familiar. He just happened to be able to see the street shrouded in night.

“Speaking of which, Tingting, you still remember this place, right?”

Yin Ren slowed down his speech and felt the vibration on his phone. Ge Tingting stopped typing.

She blinked and had a hint of confusion on her face.

“When Zhong Ge and I were shopping earlier, you tried to get a tracking insect corpse to burrow into my shopping bag.” Yin Ren patiently continued, “At that time, I detected evil qi and avoided it. Do you still have an impression of this?”

His voice was also converted into text and was a different color than Lu Xiaohe’s voice.

[Ear Person: Yes, Feng Qi said it was a side mission. The wiseman asked us to send insect corpses to a specific location. We later failed that mission.]

“This matter goes a little further back to the time when you and Feng Qi first met. Zhong Ge and I have also been to this place. At that time, was it a Sunken Wiseman who asked you to monitor us?”

The spying at that time came from outside the store. There was no smell of people or evil things nearby, and there weren’t any evil spirits, and there wasn’t any malice in the gaze. The people from Sunken Society shouldn’t be able to do this.

Feng Qi was contaminated by the evil qi at that time, and his physical condition was abnormal, so there was still a little possibility of “observing” them from a distance away.

[Ear Person: No, the Sunken Wiseman found us the next day.]

Yin Ren: “……”

As if afraid she hadn’t made it clear, Ge Tingting started typing again.

[Ear Person: I remember very clearly. I was terribly scared that night. Feng Qi kept comforting me. After that, we were busy looking for a place to spend the night and didn’t have time to do anything else.]

[Ear Person: Is something wrong?]

Zhong Chengshuo likewise turned his face sideways and looked at Yin Ren with suspicion.

Yin Ren smiled and put his phone away. “It’s fine. I made a mistake. After all, I’m also a newcomer, so maybe I’m just being too paranoid.”

…How strange.

The stir fry and barbeque were served. Ge Tingting was holding her drink as her eyes lit up when she saw the headphones. Lu Xiaohe would tease her from time to time, while the proprietress grabbed Zhong Chengshuo and asked for advice on college entrance exams.

In the noisy atmosphere, Yin Ren once again looked at the increasingly dark street. Countless vehicles passed by as people laughed and chattered, creating a lively scene on the streets.

It didn’t matter. Since someone spied on him once, they would definitely do it again.

When she was full of food and drink, Ge Tingting’s eyelids began to droop, and she started dozing off. Lu Xiaohe let her lean on her shoulder and shook the empty can of almond milk at the proprietress.

“Refill,” she said.

Xu Fang smiled and said, “How can this thing be refilled? I’ll send you another can.”

“Refill,” Lu Xiaohe repeated.

The proprietress stopped smiling. “I get it. Are you coming too?”

“No, I’m just the rear commander, and I have to send Ge Tingting back to the dorms.” Lu Xiaohe shook her head. “The two of them are going.”

Yin Ren was shocked. “Huh? Going where?”

“Since someone doesn’t like to read mission reports, I decided to give you two a little surprise.” Lu Xiaohe said in an airy voice. “Just tonight, you two will go to the ghost market of the Nightwalkers and come back after collecting information.”

……

The two stayed in the store for a few more hours.

After midnight, Xu Fang went back into her home and took out three old-fashioned flashlights.

The flashlight was in the style of the last century. It had a thin silver shell on the outside and had AA batteries installed. Xu Fang stuffed one if each of their hands and then took off her apron and solemnly hung it up.

Zhong Chengshuo fiddled with the flashlight for a while. “Miss Xu, are you a Nightwalker?”

“Yes.” Xu Fang waved her hand. Zhong Chengshuo stiffened a little when he said “Miss Xu”. “I don’t have any great skills. I’m just usually the guide for people.”

Seeing Zhong Chengshuo stiffen, she grinned. “Don’t be afraid. We’re in formal cooperation with Shian. The ghost market sounds scary, but it’s actually a serious place—there are rules in place, so no one is allowed to make trouble.”

“Nn.” Zhong Chengshuo clutched his flashlight.

While the two were talking, Yin Ren was fiddling with his flashlight.

It was completely dark. When the flashlight turned on, a blueish-white oval was cast in front of him.

He was about to shine it in the distance to take a look when Xu Fang gave him a slap on the hand. “Don’t shine the light indiscriminately! Be careful not to illuminate things that shouldn’t be illuminated, or you may not be able to sleep at night.”

Lord Ghost King: “…Thank you Fang Jie.”

He carefully moved the light away so that it wouldn’t shine on the tip of his shoes.

“You two are fine. I’ll take you now.” Xu Fang took a deep breath. “Come on, take a few deep breaths. Don’t be panting later—if we get separated on the road, we won’t have a chance to go in again tonight.”

Yin Ren thought she would guide them to a certain entrance, but Xu Fang just led them to a nearby old apartment and took them to the highest point of the fire escape.

The fire escape had no cover, so the wind was blowing in all directions, giving them goosebumps.

“Take the flashlight and shine it as you walk down the steps while holding your breath.” Xu Fang urged, “It’s best to hold hands and walk in the place where the light has illuminated. Don’t get off course.”

Yin Ren: “Is it okay for Zhong Ge? He doesn’t believe in this.”

Xu Fang was apparently used to this question. “It’s fine. This technique isn’t applied on the person. I have brought science posts before, and they can enter.”

“Follow my steps, hold your breath, and make sure you two hold hands.” After she spoke, she quickly repeated this a few times.

Yin Ren turned around and generously stretched out his hand. “Zhong Ge?”

Zhong Ge hesitated for a few seconds before grabbing it. Who would have thought that rather than simply grabbing his hand, Yin Ren clasped his five fingers around his.

“Hurry up.” Yin Ren seemed as if he were possessed by the proprietress for a moment. He quickly added, “Don’t get lost. What a great opportunity to go shopping.”

Zhong Chengshuo: “……”

He wanted to change his grip, but Xu Jie had already started to descend the steps, so he had to give up the thought.

The green light swayed in front of them. As they walked down, the surrounding scenery slowly rose. They didn’t know when it started, but a layer of gray mist had gathered.

It ate away at everything around them. Except for the lone fire escape, the surroundings became impenetrable darkness. Even the footsteps of the three of them were swallowed up.

The slight coolness of the night breeze turned into a chill that climbed up the ankle like gangrene.

In contrast, Yin Ren’s hands were dry and warm. Zhong Chengshuo relaxed his arm and began to focus on the road in front of him.

For about a minute, their feet hit the ground. Zhong Chengshuo was pretty sure the stairs just now were definitely longer than the distance they traveled.

The three of them seemed to be standing at a dead end. The fire escape behind them had turned into a wall, and there were swaying red and green lights outside the alley.

Xu Jie let out a long exhale. “That was suffocating. Good, you both made it—now you don’t need your flashlight.”

Her hair had become a bit messy. She took out two weird masks from her pocket. “Go on, put them on. Shian people aren’t very popular here. Don’t mind.”

When they walked out of the alley, they came to a long, old street.

This was obviously not far from the city center, but there was no shadow of any buildings nearby. There were only dilapidated houses on either side of the street, with their windows and doors all open. The inside was full of bottomless darkness, as if they were the eye sockets of a skeleton.

There were lanterns on the thresholds of the old houses. The lanterns were attached to the stone brick floors and roughly divided into two types: blue lanterns and red lanterns. They were all placed crookedly, with a miserable aura of decay. On the side of the lanterns, there were either red cloth wrappings of goods or nothing but a pair of cloth shoes with their heels pointed upside down.

The stall owners were hiding in the darkness of the old houses. The ones who were most open only showed an arm or two legs. From time to time, customers squatted in front of the stalls, bargaining against the darkness.

“Red lights barter; green lights dispel evil spirits.”

Xu Jie led the two of them along the street and whispered to them as they walked. “The ones with a single incense burner on the red cloth are information stalls.”

Yin Ren looked around with novelty. He still hadn’t let go of Zhong Chengshuo’s hand. “Zhong Ge, what’s it like in your eyes?”

Zhong Chengshuo: “…A group of people sitting in front of a store stall that has paper lanterns placed in front of it.”

“Don’t say this to them.” Xu Jie laughed dryly. “Everyone still cares about face, which is why Shian’s science posts are especially unpopular.”

“How do we trade?” Yin Ren asked curiously. “Luck? Lifespan? Or body parts?”

Xu Jie stared at him in shock for a while and pointed to the nearest information stall. The stall owner reached out from the darkness and handed out two cards: one blue, one green; each with a QR code printed on it.

Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo: “……”

Xu Jie: “You’ll be reimbursed for this kind of thing. Don’t be afraid.”

Yin Ren took a deep breath, took out Dog Thing, and dragged Zhong Chengshuo all the way to the stall. He looked curiously at the incense burner on the stall for a while. “Zhong Ge, I’ll just pay later.”

Xu Jie: “Xiao Yin, you…”

“I understand. I’ll be careful.”

“…You can let go of Xiao Zhong,” Xu Jie said helplessly. “I’m watching you guys from behind, so you won’t get lost.”

Yin Ren: “Oops.”

He let go of his partner and squatted down at the information stall. Zhong Chengshuo looked at the sky for a while before he lowered his head with a complicated expression that hadn’t had time to dissipate.

A chuckle came from the darkness behind the stall. “Hehe.”

In Zhong Chengshuo’s eyes, he saw a thin, old man look up.

“You guys are lucky today,” he said lightly. “I rarely show up.”

Yin Ren stood in awe. “Are you…?”

“I am ‘King Yama’ of the Nightwalkers.”

---

The author has something to say:

Xiao Yin: Happy shopping

Xiao Zhong: ? Fighting counterfeits

By the way, I know it’s BOSS, not BOOS. BOOS is actually a spelling that raises my blood PRESSURE… Sharing high blood pressure online!

——————

After this chapter was finished, I gave it to my gay friend.

Gay Friend: ? I have a question. Why did Minister Fu get the information on Friday, but Xiao Zhong didn’t know about the case until Monday.

Me: ? That was at the end of the day on Friday!

Me: Are you a ghost? It’s not urgent work. Why do you have to work overtime on Saturday and Sunday?

Gay Friend: .

Me: .

Me: Are you a ghost? (repeat)

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Kinky Thoughts:

For those who forgot, two members of the Lu Family tested with Yin Ren in arc 1 (Lu Hui and Lu Nana). Given the comments made by My name is Little Red Riding Hood, most likely they are one of the two (I’m guessing Lu Nana since she was referred to as “Red Fedora”).

Seems like Xu Fang is Sister Xu Spicy Hotpot.

…Look at me, doxing all these people.

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 44: A Murderer

[Weak.] The phone answered like this.

Yin Ren silently exited the interface and quickly checked the modern definition of “weak”. He looked left and right, but he didn’t see any brand new meaning that he didn’t know of.

Lord Ghost King pondered on it for a while.

[Then, according to your definition, what about yourself?]

[A stronger, weaker person.] It answered immediately. The words disappeared quickly, as if it feared Yin Ren would see them clearly.

Yin Ren: “……”

Yin Ren: [Then what about Zhong Chengshuo? You know who that is, right?]

Phone: [The weakest at the bottom.]

[How do you classify this?]

[Feeling.] The speed of the phone’s words became slow, as if it were holding a guilty conscience.

Yin Ren was speechless. In just a few days, his evaluation plummeted from “Dragon of Destruction” to “weak”, while Zhong Chengshuo’s was even more outrageous; directly changing from “Death” to “weakest at the bottom”. Despite being an Evil Spirit, he received a world of difference in definition.

Whether Dog Thing was reliable or not, this feeling was familiar. Yin Ren was reminded of a third-rate app that only had junk features after paying for it.

The power of the Evil Spirit qi had been paid, so he could only gather his last patience.

Yin Ren: [Why are you in Shian?]

Phone: [There’s an “Evil Spirit” underground, and I want power.]

[How are you going to come into contact with Shian’s Evil Spirit?]

[I don’t know.] The battery of the phone was slowly falling.

[Do you want enough strength to go home? How are you going to go home?]

[I don’t know.]

Yin Ren slammed the phone on the sofa. No wonder this thing fell into the pile of debris at Shian’s warehouse. With its worthless IQ, it was truly suitable for staying there.

The 1,000-year-old Evil Spirit was brutally deceived by telecommunications fraud, and his Evil Spirit qi account suffered. Yin Ren pounded his chest and stamped his feet for a while, then picked up the phone wearily.

[Alright, Dog Thing.]

[Siren.] The phone reminded him.

[A name referring to a dead person is too unlucky, but Dog Thing is quite good. Starting today, you’ll be Dog Thing.] Yin Ren declared solemnly.

[Siren.] The phone’s power quickly dropped to 1%.

Yin Ren ignored it. He switched to the latest episode of his drama on the tablet, opened the app store, and started to search for anti-fraud apps for the elderly.

……

Compared with some time ago, the work this week was surprisingly light.

Ge Tingting hadn’t joined yet, and there were no weird cases around him. The “good treatment” that Fang Yuanyuan spoke of finally began to take shape.

For example, today, Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo visited Feng Qi in the morning and then attended class until 3:00. The rest of the time, they were free to do as they pleased—whether they studied on their own or simply slacked off, Shian wouldn’t interfere.

Feng Qi lived in the Shian dorm area, so the two didn’t even need to leave the campus.

Someone from Shian came forward to help the boy complete the inheritance-related procedures, and at the same time he also transferred schools. During compulsory education, Feng Qi would study in a “special school” within Shian.

As for the arrangements after graduation, that depended on the boy’s grades—even if he had the ability of a Black Seal, Feng Qi could choose to receive education in the direction of science. Shian also had ordinary external departments, so he didn’t have to embark on that dangerous path.

But right now, Feng Qi didn’t need to think so far ahead.

His dorm was in the underage area—male division—and he was assigned a roommate with a mild temperament. When the two entered the door, the boy was lying in bed staring at his tablet with his legs swaying from side to side.

Feng Qi was wearing large headphones while he was clicking his stylus on the tablet. His expression was very focused as he would write something on the tablet from time to time. The black dragon doll was holding the game console that was placed next to his pillow.

“Little adventurer, we’re here to see you.” Yin Ren smiled brightly.

“The brother who gave me the dragon!” Feng Qi took off his headphones and bent his eyes with a smile. “And the brother who gave me an apple!”

“What are you doing so seriously?”

“Ah, it’s to consolidate my abilities.” Feng Qi wiped his nose, with a little hidden pride in his expression. “After I came back from the different world, I still retained a little superpower—I can understand what others can’t, and everyone says this ability is very powerful.”

Yin Ren wasn’t surprised.

That night, he removed most of Feng Qi’s evil qi, and “the ability that shouldn’t belong to the boy” disappeared. However, Feng Qi could withstand the corruption of the evil qi, which meant he himself was indeed talented.

Yin Ren had carefully read the reports from Unit 7. When talking to “Ibby”—that was, Feng Qi himself—Feng Qi could still express himself in normal language.

Now that there was no cognitive pollution of the “different world”, it wasn’t strange that he could interpret normal language and the ravings of the unknown at the same time.

Yin Ren glanced at Feng Qi’s tablet. For some reason, the child chose the color of blood red, and the tablet screen was filled with “Mom, Mom, I’m so scared”, “Help, help”, “I’m scared. I’m scared…”

Coupled with the little boy’s smiling face and the bright sunshine, the visual impact was quite amazing.

“…What are you using to strengthen your ability?” Yin Ren’s smile froze for a moment.

Feng Qi blinked. “The recordings that were sent to me? I’m responsible for interpreting them. They say I can help a lot of people.”

Yin Ren took two steps back and whispered to Zhong Chengshuo, “Zhong Ge, is Shian eliciting child labor?”

After getting Shian’s legal textbook, he first read “Labor Laws” intensively.

Zhong Chengshuo: “……”

Zhong Chengshuo: “…Didn’t you read today’s report at all?”

“I have read the table of contents.” Yin Ren spoke confidently.

Zhong Chengshuo speechlessly pushed up his glasses. Wasn’t it a bit too outrageous that he could be cursed by this kind of person without any traces?

Perhaps he should consider other possibilities, such as a problem with his own health.

“There’s a detailed list in the file. Considering personal privacy, the people in those recordings are all death row prisoners. Except for one of them, the rest have been executed,” Zhong Chengshuo explained.

“It’s really more of a competency exam than a collection of information.”

“Except for who?”

“Guo Laifu, a wanted serial killer. He has five lives on his hands. He fled to Haigu a while ago and was arrested on the day we met.” Zhong Chengshuo stepped back to the door, trying to lower his voice. “It’s said that this person is completely insane and is still undergoing treatment. The other death row prisoners only showed symptoms of madness, but they had no mental problems.”

“Guo Laifu is also a death row prisoner?” Yin Ren murmured, “But he’s still being treated specially?”

“Yes, according to regulations, he can only be executed after his sanity is restored.”

Yin Ren looked at the words written on the tablet again.

What Feng Qi interpreted were all short sentences, full of fear between the lines, without any exception. In a sense, this could be considered karma and retribution from the heavens.

He didn’t delve any deeper and accompanied Feng Qi to play with the black dragon doll for a while.

“Come on, little bud. These are all confidential documents. Maybe you can dig up a big case.” Before leaving, Yin Ren muttered mysteriously to Feng Qi.

Feng Qi’s eyes lit up. “Nn!”

……

After the afternoon class ended, Yin Ren stretched out lazily. With the warm sunlight basking on his body, if it weren’t for the conditions, he would have wanted to sink into the chair.

With Zhong Chengshuo taking notes like Superman, Yin Ren didn’t even need to seriously listen to the class. After a few classes, he received the ire of the teachers. However, the 1,000-year-old Evil Spirit had gained, aside from other things, extremely thick skin…

“Lend me your notes before the exam?” Yin Ren lay on the table as he turned his head lazily. “Zhong Ge, I’ll treat you after the exam.”

The corner of Zhong Chengshuo’s eyes twitched. Seeing this person half-rolled on the desk, a strange sense of loss of strength spontaneously emerged, and the curse on him seemed to dissipate a little.

“I’ll lend it to you.”

After entering Shian as “King Yama” from the Nightwalkers, Zhong Chengshuo hated that he even had to carefully control the number of breaths. Right now, he really couldn’t understand—an “evil being” had mixed into Shian just so he could be lazy at work and take naps in the classroom?

What exactly is this guy doing here?

“Zhong Ge, my hero!” Yin Ren’s spirit was refreshed, which he followed up with a loud yawn. “Let’s go to the refreshment bar and get some ice cream—”

Zhong Chengshuo: “I’m going to the library.”

Yin Ren: “Then let’s have ice cream together before going. I want to go too. I’ve never been to the library. Xiaohe Jie said the environment is good there.”

Zhong Chengshuo’s heart moved slightly. He could probably get a glimpse of a person’s personality based on the book that he borrowed. This was a good opportunity to test.

“Okay.” Zhong Chengshuo unprecedentedly agreed.

Shian’s library was indeed a good environment.

It was independent of the Shian building, had four floors, and looked more like an art museum on the outside.

The main tone of the interior of the library was original wood color and huge floor-to-ceiling windows that had a lush view. There was a faint smell of ink in the air, which was mixed with the smell of old paper, giving birth to a kind of strange magic that calmed people’s hearts.

The design of the stairs and reading area wasn’t rigid and had some arbitrariness, similar to that of an ancient garden.

Glass and wood vaguely surrounded the corridors that twist and turn thousands of times, but not so much that people would get lost. There were reading areas that were staggered and nestled in various places, like new shoots on a branch, giving a sense of space and privacy.

The pair split up and returned to their seats with books in their arms after a while.

The reading area they chose was located by a window with semi-open café-style seating. Ambient lights hung from the ceiling, giving off a soft glow. Outside the glass walls of floor-to-ceiling windows, there were leaves being blown by the wind, making a vague rustling sound.

The books Yin Ren borrowed were stacked by the window, and the title was dimly obscured by the shadow of the tree.

Zhong Chengshuo took note of the titles of those books one by one—this time, he selected a few ordinary history books and also picked up a biography of the founder of Shian. There were a few thin books interspersed among the pile of large books; most likely, these were read for leisure.

“The environment is really good,” Yin Ren commented.

There was a certain distance between each of the reading areas, so the sound insulation was superb. Although people would walk by from time to time, as long as they weren’t laughing or yelling, the sound wouldn’t spread too far.

At this moment, Yin Ren was still looking at the wide and atmospheric library. As he watched people come and go in the book forest as they talked in low voices, Yin Ren’s face faded from its usual ease, and his eyes showed some complication.

For a moment, Zhong Chengshuo had a peculiar feeling—the “thing” in front of him was picturesque, but there was a strange, old, and solemn aura around him. However, in the next second, the subtle aura disappeared.

What was Yin Ren thinking?

Unfortunately, Yin Ren didn’t bring up any topics. He just looked around silently for a moment, then returned to his book, being unusually quiet.

Yin Ren lowered his brows, and his long hair slid down his shoulders. Coupled with the heavy old books in his hand, the picture suddenly had a bit of a quaint feel.

This person is still hiding a lot of secrets. Zhong Chengshuo narrowed his eyes.

The heavy killing intent, the fleeting complex temperament. Forget if this person “remembered something”, it was hard to say if he even lost his memory in the first place.

Seeing the posture of the other party wanting to read wholeheartedly, Zhong Chengshuo lowered his head and began to read his book seriously.

……

Ten minutes passed.

Zhong Chengshuo had sorted out the notes on the contents of the first five chapters and raised his head again. Yin Ren’s reading progress had just reached the main body of the page.

Yin Ren stared at his book blankly. His ochre-red eyes straightened, and he looked as if he were distracted. There was nothing left of that transcendent temperament just now. Looking at him, this person was more like a middle schooler who refused to work on his homework.

Zhong Chengshuo: “…Are you uncomfortable?”

“What? Oh… I was just lost in thought for a bit.” The drowsiness in Yin Ren’s voice was strong.

Zhong Chengshuo rubbed his forehead. “Don’t force it if you don’t want to read.”

“Make sense.” Yin Ren shook his head vigorously, trying to shake the sleepiness off his face. “At least I tried.”

In a dignified manner, he took out a thin book that was sandwiched between a larger book. It was a picture book called <How Can I Have Bad Thoughts?>.

Yin Ren used the other book as a cushion to prop up his chin and read it happily.

The man was pasted to the table as if he didn’t have a bone in his body. From time to time, he would smile at the pages, with “what to eat tonight” clearly written on his face, completely losing the previous perceived style.

Facing such a scene, Zhong Chengshuo’s mood became extremely complicated. In the end, he couldn’t hold back, and the corners of his mouth hitched.

Perhaps because he perceived a wrong breath, Yin Ren’s gaze instantly turned. “What are you smiling at?”

“I wasn’t. I just remembered something that happened while I was studying,” Zhong Chengshuo quickly came up with an excuse as his face stiffened. “There are many people like you in the school library.”

“Because some books are just hard to read,” Yin Ren muttered empathetically. “You’re not allowed to eat or drink, and you can’t even read something interesting. What a waste of such an environment.”

After he spoke, he seemed to suddenly think of something. “When you were studying, did you also have this kind of library there?”

“Nn, the library of A University is quite good.”

It was modest to say it was quite good. As a super-first-class university in China, the library of A University was just as good as Shian’s.

Yin Ren was speechless. “They all say that you can’t read books unless you borrow them, but this is too exaggerated… It turns out that you used to come to places like this a lot. No wonder you’re so skilled.”

He glanced at Zhong Chengshuo’s neat notes, then looked at the messy pile of books in front of him again with a slightly bitter expression.

“I like the library very much,” Zhong Chengshuo said honestly.

“I heard that your university has dorms, but my guess is you spend all your waking time here, right?”

“Pretty much,” Zhong Chengshuo replied solemnly. “Later, the dorm was closed, so I applied to move out of campus. After that, I went to the library less often.”

Yin Ren paused. “Ah, I have a little impression.”

His roommates set up a prostitution ring that was later busted because Zhong Chengshuo called the police. After that, naturally, the dorm would be closed down.

Yin Ren’s sympathetic gaze was too obvious. Zhong Chengshuo put down his book and added, “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. I live by myself. It’s a lot more convenient to watch movies and the like… At that time, I lived very close to the public library. Although it wasn’t as big as A’s, it wasn’t bad.”

To be honest, in addition to watching movies, it also made studying evil things a lot easier. Although he had to commute every day, Zhong Chengshuo was generally satisfied.

He took orders at home to investigate and run experimental projects when he incidentally killed evil beings. It could be said to be a very peaceful and beautiful time.

That was exactly seven years ago, when “King Yama” emerged.

Recalling this, Zhong Chengshuo had a bit of regret.

Had he known about this, he wouldn’t have used random letters as his name. The Nightwalkers had varying degrees of academic qualification, and they had all kinds of messy pronunciation. Over time, they took their own initiative and gave him the nickname “King Yama”, which made him stand out.

As soon as he recovered from being lost in his memories, Zhong Chengshuo saw Yin Ren’s smiling face.

Yin Ren propped his face to the side; his eyes were sly, and his brows and the corner of his mouth were rising higher.

“What are you smiling at?” Zhong Chengshuo asked cautiously.

“Nothing. This is the first time you have taken the initiative to talk about yourself. It’s quite refreshing.” Yin Ren leaned on the cushion with a smile. “Look, now that I know that you love to read books, when I give you a gift next time, I have other options.”

…This turned against him.

The information wasn’t spied on, but instead he gave it away due to his own volition. This time, the curse not only burned Zhong Chengshuo’s ears but also ignited the back of his neck.

Zhong Chengshuo hung his head, somewhat shriveled, and closed his mouth tightly as he continued to read his book. At least the books he chose were practical and safe and weren’t likely to reveal anything at all.

However, his ears remained hot, and he couldn’t concentrate well. Zhong Chengshuo tried to steady his heartbeat as he countered, “Then what do you like? Other than food.”

“Me?”

“Yes. You never talk about yourself.”

“I like everything you like.” Yin Ren avoided the heavy gaze and gave a deep nod, recalling Zhong Chengshuo’s large bookcase full of entertainment. “If I must say something, I like shopping. The livelier, the better.”

“But this is something that can’t be gifted.” Zhong Chengshuo compared his “hobby items” and “hobby activities” in his head.

“You want to give me something?”

“I don’t…” Zhong Chengshuo subconsciously wanted to refute but felt that something was off. “I don’t… plan to give it soon. I’m just asking.”

Yin Ren smiled. “How about you give me a gift on my birthday?”

Zhong Chengshuo was startled.

“Anyway, I don’t remember, but everyone has a birth date, so you can justifiably celebrate it—how about you gift me something without even spending a penny.”

“You can come up with it yourself.” Zhong Chengshuo averted his gaze and didn’t look at Yin Ren.

“Isn’t this thing the same thing as a name? It never feels right if you do it yourself.”

“Then July 15^th.” Zhong Chengshuo stared at the edge of the table.

Yin Ren’s smile slowly froze. “Change it. That day has already passed.”

“Then why not just come up with the date yourself?”

“But I want to have my birthday this year—”

Zhong Chengshuo took a few deep breaths. He finally raised his head. This time, he looked directly into Yin Ren’s eyes. “Then the 29th of the lunar year. You can celebrate for two days along with New Year’s Eve.”

Provided if at that time you haven’t shown your fangs yet.

……

After work hours, Shian Building.

Fu Xingchuan looked at the latest observation report speechlessly.

Zhong Chengshuo and Yin Ren visited the Shian library today. Zhong Chengshuo read <Preventive Cardiology> all afternoon, while Yin Ren read books such as <How Can I Have Bad Thoughts?>, <Life is Fun>, and <A 100-Year-Old Life: Life and Work in the Age of Longevity>. The latter borrowed a lot of serious history books, but he didn’t seem to read them.

These two people… not only had unpredictable interests, but they were also inexplicably subtle, which made it hard to read them.

Fu Xingchuan suddenly felt very tired.

Fortunately, Haigu was calm at the moment, so he had time to take a breather. Even Professor Li spared some of his time to go to a university to give a serious lecture.

Minister Fu fell back on the sofa and picked up the travel magazine. He closed his eyes and began to imagine that he was in a prairie—

His phone vibrated. Director Zhou from the Municipal Public Security Bureau was calling him.

Fu Xingchuan picked up the phone in pain.

“Hello…?”

As he listened, Fu Xingchuan’s laziness disappeared. He frowned and sat upright on the sofa.

“Wait, Director Zhou, what do you think is going on?”

“Someone surrendered to the police this morning. This person claimed to have murdered seven people in the past six months and wanted to play a game of “finding the bodies” with the officials.” The other side repeated.

Fu Xingchuan: “……”

What’s wrong with criminals nowadays? Is it bad to just behave like peaceful human beings?

“He calls himself a ‘Nightwalker’ and specifies that you need to intervene. Our comrades have already launched an investigation. Xiao Fu, call your team over here. They don’t need to be too strong. Last time I heard, Xiao Sun said that Unit 9 is quite reliable.”

Unit 9 Class-C Special Investigation Group.

The official members were Lu Xiaohe, Yin Ren, Zhong Chengshuo, accompanied by a trainee, Ge Tingting.

Fu Xingchuan recalled for a moment the bizarre book list and laughed. “Okay, I’ll send Unit 9.”

……

Within the Municipal Public Security Bureau.

A young man was sitting in the interrogation room. His hands were handcuffed, but his legs were arrogantly crossed with a relaxed posture.

He was wearing a brightly colored, over-the-top t-shirt. He had a long face and thick brows accompanied by big eyes, but unfortunately, he was born with single eyelids. His dark eyes turned upward, looking extraordinarily mean.

The young man’s dyed head of yellow hair flowed briskly. Most likely he hadn’t taken care of it in a while, as the roots of his hair had grown black.

“If you can’t find the body, you can’t close the case, right?” He said it playfully, with a tone full of provocation. “If this wave is successful, I’ll definitely be comparable with ‘King Yama’.”

The policeman who was interrogating him obviously didn’t like his attitude. “What King Yama? Even if there’s nobody, the chain of evidence is complete enough. You can’t run away.”

The young man rolled his eyes and looked at him for a while.

“Well, to be honest.”

He clicked his tongue.

“Why don’t you guys look for them, huh? If you can find them, I’ll lose. If you can’t, I’ll just play around and open your eyes.”

“Seven people,” he said with a chilling smile.

---

The author has something to say:

Laughing to death. A salted fish doesn’t have fangs√

Xiao Zhong: This person is neither good at work nor at studying. Why did he come to Shian?

Xiao Yin: The cafeteria.

——————

<Preventive Cardiology>, <How Can I have Bad Thoughts?>, <Life is Fun>, and <A 100-Year-Old Life: Life and Work in the Age of Longevity> are all real books, but they are not very well coded. In order to clarify the personalities of the characters, I simply wrote them directly.

So I’ll emphasize it again, overhead background*~

*It’s a term used referring to the setting the author creates in their novels that is completely different from history or reality. It borrows things from real history and reality but has nothing to do with reality (AKA the setting is purely fictional but takes stuff from real life).

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 43: The Answer

It had been a long time since Ge Tingting had slept so well.

When she was still in the village, the blanket at home exuded an old, damp smell, and the bed was always cold. No matter how it was washed and dried, her and her grandmother’s blanket was always cold and smelled like some kind of animal’s nest.

The dark internet cafés in the city had a mixed smell of instant noodles, foot odor, and smoke, and there was the sound of keyboard clacking all around. To make do with the enclosed area, with no bed or blanket, she could only keep warm by curling up.

When was the last time she had slept so well?

The faded memories that surfaced in her mind gradually became clear.

It seemed like ten years ago, under the cliff. Her parents’ bodies became cold and stiff, and she didn’t respond to any cries.

She was mute, her limbs were limp, and her head ached so badly it was as if it was split open.

[Honey, don’t be afraid.] She suddenly heard her mother say.

[It’s okay. Mom and dad are here.] She suddenly heard her father say.

They didn’t open their mouths, but they were talking. Even if the voice was a little faded and could only repeat a few words with difficulty, she could still hear them. In the drizzle-like murmurings, the young Ge Tingting curled up in her parents’ arms and quietly closed her eyes.

After that, she suddenly understood what “corpses” were.

She knew how to manipulate them, and even knew how to communicate with the newly dead “corpses”.

Soon after a person died, something like an echo would be left behind. The echoes would gradually dissipate, but they would always stay in the world for some time.

Was it an obsession? Was it an attachment? Or the last thoughts of the deceased during their lifetime? She didn’t know.

But now she understood why she chased after Feng Qi that night—there seemed to be two faint echoes on the child’s body.

Just like herself during that time.

Ge Tingting rolled over in bed and opened her eyes.

The phantom of a different world disappeared, replaced by the modern furnishings she was familiar with. There was a delicate music box at the head of the bed and bright red apples in a fruit basket.

She propped up her body and reached to pull out the infusion needle on the back of her hand.

[Don’t move around casually. Be careful. You might injure yourself. If you need anything, please write it here by hand.]

A tablet stretched out in front of her, with conspicuous characters on the screen. Ge Tingting turned her head and saw a female nurse smiling at her.

The nurse seemed to know her condition well and there was a strange black mark on her badge.

[Feng Qi?] Ge Tingting wrote with difficulty.

The crooked handwriting disappeared from the screen and became regular print.

[Feng Qi is fine. He has woken up. I was just about to talk to you about it.]

The nurse cleared the screen and quickly responded back.

[You were under a hallucinogenic effect that made you see a “different world”. Do you understand what I’m saying?]

Ge Tingting was stunned for a few seconds. She gradually shrank her body. [The monster we attacked?]

Before she was affected, she had seen Wu Tao’s death and had some conjectures in her heart.

[It’s a human, but he’s a criminal on the run from the cops. Someone will talk to you about it. Don’t be afraid. You two are in a special circumstance, so the police will judge impartially.]

Ge Tingting nodded slowly, still looking nervous.

The nurse smiled encouragingly at her.

[We have communicated with Feng Qi. He still believes that you have just returned from a different world. He’s still too young. Please don’t tell him the truth for the time being. We will have someone responsible for this matter.]

[I see. I won’t say anything.] Ge Tingting slowly wrote back.

[I’m older than him and know more than him. If there’s punishment, I hold the greater responsibility.]

The young nurse stepped forward and gave the girl a small hug.

[Don’t worry. I have experienced something similar to you.] She wrote. [Believe me, you will all have a home.]

Ge Tingting looked at the beautiful music box at the head of the bed. She closed her eyes and nodded gently.

After the infusion, accompanied by the nurse, she met Feng Qi.

The nurse had moved Feng Qi’s infusion needle to the back of his foot, vacating the boy’s hands so he could play with the dragon doll in his arms. The pus and blood on his face were wiped clean. Although his cheeks were still haggard, at least there was some color in them.

Seeing Ge Tingting, Feng Qi opened his eyes wide and shouted happily. Ge Tingting was sad to find she could no longer understand the boy’s words.

[I can’t understand.] She approached sadly and touched the boy’s head. [I don’t understand… but I really like the days when I could talk to you before. Thank you.]

The boy was taken aback. He tilted his head and asked the nurse for a tablet.

[It’s okay. Sui Jie told me. I can understand! This is my superpower!] Feng Qi wrote happily.

After writing this sentence, he hesitated for a few seconds, then seriously added another sentence.

[Now that we’re all home, will you still be my sister?]

Ge Tingting bit her lip. She followed the actions of the nurse just now and gently gave the boy a hug.

‘How wonderful,’ she thought.

[Of course.] She replied.

……

Shian Building, Emergency Management Department.

It was rare for Fu Xingchuan to change into a bright red shirt. At this moment, he was pouring instant coffee powder into a cup while yawning. A pair of dark circles around his eyes made him look as if he were a panda.

Li Nian: “You’re still alive.”

Professor Li stared at the red shirt his partner was wearing for a while. “…Or do you plan to die suddenly today while wearing the reddest clothes and becoming the fiercest ghost?’

“Don’t scold your big brother. I’ll definitely go to bed early today.” Fu Xingchuan shrank his neck. “After all, Sunken Society had caused a lot of trouble! Don’t you know that there were more than 100 ghosts that were thrown onto that battlefield all at once… The scene was so chaotic that I’m completely exhausted.”

Professor Li laughed and threw a stack of reports in front of Fu Xingchuan.

“It’s not like we’re idle in Haigu either. The kid named Feng Qi has woken up. Here’s the full investigation report.”

“Oh, oh.” Fu Xingchuan quickly sat down. He scanned through the report as he sipped on the freshly brewed coffee and let out an “Ow” as he was scalded by it.

Li Nian didn’t lift his head when he heard it, as if he were accustomed to it.

“Haa, this Feng Qi—”

“Right, Feng Qi’s ability is strange,” Professor Li said. “In previous cases, there are records of Sunken Society releasing ‘strong evil qi as the corruption source’ on ordinary people, but this time it’s different.”

“This kid’s case looks like an extreme enhancement of ‘observation’. It’s not without precedent, but…”

But something isn’t quite right.

Ordinary people who had been exposed to things they shouldn’t have were forced to get involved in the metaphysical world; such cases weren’t uncommon. Fu Xingchuan had handled them hundreds of times.

Even if they came into contact with a heavily corrupted object, these ordinary people could at most open a ghost eye and gain some “relatively reasonable” abilities.

Take Feng Qi, for example. As long as the conditions were met, any non-metaphysicians could cut people into diced meat.

With superhuman powers of observation to analyze the environment, track targets through fragmented intelligence, and even understand “crazy ravings”, it was all still a manifestation of the “extreme enhancement of observation power”. In the words of Professor Li, the human brain has infinite potential, and such people could be regarded as a super-doubled version of Sherlock Holmes.

Fu Xingchuan’s gaze stopped on the words “sin value”.

His intuition shouted frantically. This ability to “judge the value of sin” wasn’t strong, but it revealed a strange flavor.

The ability was unprecedented.

It wasn’t easy for victims to become evil beings, let alone to “count at a glance”. Over the years, in order to help solve cases, Shian had specialized in topics similar to “identifying murderers”, but so far, there had been no results.

Even with the Evil Spirit under their feet and the most advanced scientific theories in their hands, Shian still had no breakthrough—

Facts had proven that no matter how powerful an observation power was, it was still impossible to obtain information that “didn’t exist in the world”.

What was originally impossible was now easily accomplished by a child.

What was the source of Feng Qi’s information?

Minister Fu scratched his head. “If those people were seen for ‘having killed someone’ or ‘having murderous intent towards people’, it would still be considered an enhanced observation power… This ‘sin value’ is a bit outrageous.”

“Indeed. If you can be accurate about the number of people killed, the nature has changed,” Professor Li replied casually. “The kid said, ‘I don’t know why. I just do.’ Most likely due to self-protection, the brain directly presented him with the results.”

The two were silent for a while.

“Create a file and let Unit 7 continue to follow up.”

Fu Xingchuan lowered his voice. “Regarding Sunken Society ‘corrupting people with evil qi’, there’s been a new breakthrough.”

“Since we’re talking about Sunken Society, there’s one more thing that’s very strange.”

As if he were feeding a large animal, Professor Li threw another stack of reports.

Fu Xingchuan took it naturally, as if it were a conditioned reflex.

“…Fuck, what happened to Units 6 and 7?” Fu Xingchuan flipped through the pages. “Unit 7’s luck is like they’re cursed, so I won’t talk about them, but isn’t Unit 6 quite reliable? Why is the report so bad?”

“According to Li Xiaozhen and Li Xiaoli, there was some trouble, and Kong Wanqing was able to exploit it.”

“I know this, but I still don’t get that old bastard Kong. The issue is that they both fainted, but they were able to keep ‘Good Boy’. The degree of injury should be more serious—based on the photos of the scene, it looked as if the place was demolished.”

Fu Xingchuan shook his head and dropped his brows.

“That kid Feng Qi said there was a ‘Sunken Wiseman’ who had frequent contact with ‘Ibby’, giving them clues to the ‘black market merchant’. Now it seems that that bullshit wiseman is most likely Kong Wanqing.”

“But that night, instead of tracking the two children, he ran to squat at Master Liu’s side. Even if it’s Sunken Society, their brain circuits shouldn’t be this screwed up—did Sunken Society really only send one person?”

Professor Li turned the cap of the thermos in his hand and took a long breath as he looked at the blue sky outside the window.

“According to Ge Tingting, she was attacked near the woods in the community. Li Xiaozhen and Li Xiaoli quickly followed the scene. They didn’t find the attacker—blood residues, traces of weapons, nothing. But, having said that, Ge Tingting had abnormal cognition at that time, so her testimony might not be reliable.”

“That’s not right. Sunken Society wouldn’t be so kind.” Fu Xingchuan clicked his tongue. “If you ask me, there must be someone who’s responsible for disposing of the children and recycling the corruption source.”

“Indeed.” Professor Li took a leisurely sip of his tea.

Fu Xingchuan looked at him. “What about Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo?”

“They were all captured by nearby surveillance. Yin Ren returned to the community early, and Zhong Chengshuo didn’t come back until midnight. There was no problem with their GPS location, but suspicion on the two can’t be completely ruled out.”

“Clues?”

“There were traces of flying skills. According to Xiang Jiang’s identification, Yin Ren’s ghost can fly, and Yin Ren said that night he had been practicing it.”

“…” Fu Xingchuan was silent.

“We have no clear evidence of ‘interference by others’. It’s not impossible to say that there were internal changes in Sunken Society and that Unit 6 was that lucky.” Professor Li put down the teacup. “However, that’s just a hypothesis. If someone really intervened…”

“At least for now, it seems that the meddler isn’t hostile towards Shian.”

“Got it.” Fu Xingchuan pressed his temples. “I’ll pay more attention.”

……

A certain two people who didn’t know that they were being suspected.

This Monday was easy. Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo only needed to fill out the case report. Under Yin Ren’s strong urge, everyone went straight to the self-service barbecue restaurant after work.

The barbeque was hot as red, tender meat sizzled on the metal mesh. Grease dripped into the flames from time to time, making a sultry crackling sound. The square table was full of tempting meat, while the vegetarian dishes were placed in front of Zhong Chengshuo.

“Making amends to Liang Ge.” Yin Ren raised his glass of juice.

Across the table, Liang Shan grunted twice. He didn’t respond, but the smile and grease stains on his face betrayed him—this person had already lost his anger and was busy turning his indignation into appetite.

Even Lu Xiaohe came.

“I’ll eat a little less and go at 7,” she said apologetically. “I’ll pay equally for my share.”

Zhong Chengshuo: “Lu Jie, is there an urgent matter in the company?”

Lu Xiaohe paused her chopstick motion. “I’m going home to eat with my mother. Our family always has dinner together.”

…As far as her mother’s condition was concerned, this was one less meal with her mother, so she didn’t want to miss even a single one.

Yin Ren was startled. He quickly picked up a pair of chopsticks, grabbed the cold vegetables, and stuffed it into Zhong Chengshuo’s mouth.

“?!” Zhong Chengshuo was about to ask why when he was blocked.

Although Yin Ren hadn’t used these chopsticks, the weird curse had started to attack Zhong Chengshuo again. Zhong Chengshuo’s eyes, nose, and ears began to have serious heat issues.

“I heard that the pudding here is very good. I’ll ask the waiter later to see if you can bring some for Auntie.” Yin Ren quickly changed the subject. “The internet says that this store is nice, so there shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Haha, thank you, Xiao Yin. I didn’t even think of that.” Lu Xiaohe scratched her head a little embarrassedly.

“Speaking of which, the reason I came is because I have something to tell you.”

“Nn.” Just in case, Yin Ren had picked up a piece of vegetable again and continued to block his partner’s mouth.

Zhong Chengshuo continued to eat in a uniform manner. Liang Shan glanced at the two of them in shock, but he politely remained silent.

Lu Xiaohe: “…Ge Tingting will be transferred to our group for field work training.”

Zhong Chengshuo choked. This time, he tried to look as if there were question marks written all over his face.

“So fast?” Yin Ren asked on his behalf. “We’re still newcomers. Isn’t this not good? Didn’t Units 6 and 7 from the Special Investigation Team participate? Is it because there are inconveniences for our seniors or…?”

“Maybe it’s because we’re relatively free and you’re also new recruits, so it’s better to train together. Units 6 and 7 are all B-level investigation groups. They don’t have that much time to take care of newcomers.”

Lu Xiaohe laughed.

“This is great. She’s a rogue corpse servant with great potential. No matter how many groups want her, they won’t be able to snag her.”

Yin Ren thought for a while about Qin Xiaoxiao and Qin Lele, who were the “orthodox corpse servants”, and was convinced.

It was probably better for Ge Tingting to communicate as well.

By Yin Ren’s side, Zhong Chengshuo wanted to speak but was stopped. He even tried to raise his hand. Lu Xiaohe raised her brows at him. “What’s wrong, Xiao Zhong? Is there something inconvenient on your side?”

Zhong Chengshuo finally swallowed the food in his mouth with difficulty and a bitter expression. “My home can’t accommodate so many people.”

Yin Ren, Lu Xiaohe: “……”

One of them looked at the sky while the other stared at the ground with the same exhausted expression on their faces.

Liang Shan wasn’t familiar with Comrade Xiao Zhong’s brain circuit. “…You two are grown men, and that’s an underage girl. Shian’s brain would have to be broken before they would arrange for her to live with you. Besides, she’s not an official Black Seal and doesn’t require attendance speed, which means she’ll probably live in the staff dorms.”

Zhong Chengshuo suddenly realized this point. “Oh.”

Immediately afterwards, he frowned again and murmured. “My home? Our home?”

“Anyway, that’s all.” Lu Xiaohe clapped her hands. “She still needs to recover, so she’ll probably join next Monday.”

Yin Ren took a long look at the barbeque in front of him and touched his chin. “Then—”

“Then should we buy her a welcome gift… or something?” It was rare that Zhong Chengshuo interrupted him in advance.

“Yes, Zhong Ge. It wasn’t a complete loss that you read <The Art of Communication>.” Yin Ren comforted and patted Zhong Chengshuo on the back vigorously.

Zhong Chengshuo felt more encouraged, and his spirit was slightly refreshed. “For example, maybe gift her a full set of anatomical tools.”

Yin Ren: “……”

“Or a music box.” Zhong Chengshuo attempted to change his line of thought to that of his partner after noticing the atmosphere was off.

“…Or maybe a music player…” Seeing that no one was speaking, his voice became smaller.

“That’s good!” Yin Ren rushed to the rescue. “She just can’t understand people talking, not that she can’t hear sounds. A music player is a great idea.”

Zhong Chengshuo breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t know if it was the cause of the barbeque heat, but his ears were slightly red.

“But a music player may be a bit mature, so children may not like it much.” Lu Xiaohe rubbed her lips. “How about… noise-canceling headphones? Buy her a good brand. It’s also convenient for her to listen to songs. For things like a tablet, Shian will give them to her in advance.”

“That’s also a good idea.”

“Agreed.”

“Then leave the headphones for Xiao Zhong to choose. I feel like he knows this kind of stuff best. When you pay, everyone in the group will AA*.” Lu Xiaohe stood up. “Let’s go, Xiao Yin, and get the pudding.”

*Slang for going Dutch. In this case, it basically means everyone in the group will split the cost of the headphones.

……

The night was a relaxing one.

Unlike in the past, Zhong Chengshuo didn’t go for his night run even though he had less work. As soon as he got home, he sat upright at the desk in the living room and concentrated on looking up information.

Yin Ren glanced at the screen. It seemed Zhong Chengshuo was searching for information about different brands of headphones and, from time to time, would lower his head to take notes.

He was a little puzzled—Zhong Chengshuo had always been serious about his work, so Yin Ren wasn’t surprised by this. What was surprising was that this person didn’t actually lock himself in the bedroom to do this.

Something was amiss.

Sure enough, after checking for more than ten minutes, Comrade Xiao Zhong slowly turned his head. “Yin Ren, help me take a look at this. I don’t know if it’s suitable for girls.”

“Well, this might be a bit too heavy.”

“Yin Ren, take a look at this for me. Is the color okay?”

“This pink is too bright. There’s no need to choose according to popular taste. Ge Tingting likes to wear cold-colored t-shirts.”

“Yin Ren…”

“I think you should be a little more confident,” Lord Ghost King said tactfully.

“I haven’t given anyone a gift before.” There was a sense of tension in Zhong Chengshuo’s tone, as if a war was about to begin.

“You can feel it in your heart. I don’t think Ge Tingting will be picky about the details… I gave you a cellphone chain before, and I didn’t know what you liked. Don’t you like it? It’s like that.”

Zhong Chengshuo was stunned. It took him a few seconds to react. He looked at the hamster ornament on his phone that was the same as Yin Ren. After a while, he stretched out his hand and stroked the hamster carefully.

Zhong Chengshuo really didn’t hate it. Although he didn’t deliberately use it, he kept it with him every day.

Could it be that Yin Ren cast a curse on him through this thing?

Next, Yin Ren watched as Zhong Chengshuo stood up and hurried back to his bedroom with the laptop in his arms. The speed was as fast as lightning, as if a fire came out of nowhere and lit that person’s ass.

Lord Ghost King crawled back to the sofa lazily. The keychain on his phone flickered with his movement.

Yin Ren looked at it for a moment.

He tapped on the phone with only 1% battery. “Hey, since you have been reacting to the evil qi, can you absorb it?”

“Woof woof!!!” The power of the spirit weapon phone instantly surged. It was sluggish just now. Its blood-red power instantly turned into full green.

“You’re too loud—” Yin Ren hurriedly gestured.

He then switched to typing on the notepad. [If I can share a little power, would you like to cooperate with me? Vibrate if you’re willing.]

The phone vibrated, looking inexplicably excited. As if afraid that the strength wasn’t enough, it also gave a whispered “woof”.

[Very good.]

Yin Ren closed his eyes and carefully recalled the evil qi on the keychain—its state was extremely stable, which really brought him a lot of inspiration.

He divided a fraction of his Evil Spirit power and condensed it on his fingertips, then gently tapped the screen.

Good. He didn’t feel dizzy this time.

The moment it came into contact with the Evil Spirit qi, the phone screen became pitch black. It wasn’t matte black, but more like a sudden opening to the abyss.

After a while, the screen lit up again. The phone automatically awakened the voice assistant, and a dark red blood mass appeared at the bottom of the interface. It floated gently, appearing and disappearing.

The phone vibrated slightly.

[Hello, this is Siren. Please press and hold the control button for dialogue.] It showed silently, still playing the “fake ghost act”.

…This thing’s IQ had improved by leaps and bounds. It actually learned how to write. Not to mention, Yin Ren silently thought, the label “dead person*” was quite apt.

*Clarity: The phone’s name is Siren (in English). However, [siren] (死人) in Chinese refers to a dead person/the dead, which is the joke here.

Yin Ren quickly confirmed his question. [What are you?]

[I don’t know.]

[Where are you from?]

[I don’t know.]

[What do you want to do?]

The blood mass froze for a while.

[Go home.] It answered.

Yin Ren frowned. [Can you detect the qi of Evil Spirits?]

[If you’re referring to the human definition of ‘Evil Spirits’, yes.]

[How?]

[I don’t know.]

Yin Ren: “…” This dog thing didn’t seem to be useful. If it weren’t for his Evil Spirit qi that he divided could be slowly recovered, he would have suffered a blood loss.

Well, he had to change the direction of his questions.

[Aside from the definition of humans, do you know what I am?]

[Know.]

Yin Ren was startled.

[According to your definition, what am I?]

The blood mass was silent again for a long time.

After nearly ten seconds, it carefully wrote out: [Weak.]

---

The author has something to say:

This arc is over~ Thank you for your support, you genuine little cuties!!!

Did you say upgrade flow*? Upgrade flow (?

*Jargon for literary circle where the protagonist starts as an ordinary person and begins to step up to the winner’s road in life little by little through challenges, tribulations, and desires.

Xiao Zhong: It’s more difficult to choose headphones than beating up Sunken Society…

Xiao Yin: It’s harder to fill in the gaps in your partner’s EQ than cosplaying the Dragon of Destruction……

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Silly Zhong Chengshuo, thinking that all this is a curse.

Arc summary:

After being officially admitted to Shian, the two started living together as per Shian’s requirements. Before they even had time to settle in, a new case had emerged that involved a corpse splitter. They were assigned to work with the police to investigate why a corpse had been split into perfectly sized cubes.

They initially thought it was a cult ritual, but it turned out to be powers granted by a video game character. Their investigation revealed that the victim was an assaulter, who planned to attack a young girl, Ge Tingting, who was deaf and mute, and out of self-defense, she activated her latent corpse servant ability and choked him with insect corpses. She was saved by a young child who had the ability to see “sin value” on people and split their corpses into cubes when he defeated them.

Things became clearer when they found the victim’s accomplice, whose facial features were distorted as if he were 2D. The accomplice could only repeat a single line, which they later found out was from the game <The Legend of Resurrection>, after their new team member, the rear science post, Lu Xiaohe, discovered it while playing it with her mother.

Things were finally revealed: this entire case was a conspiracy planned by Sunken Society. They recruited the kid, Feng Qi, and gave him a corrupted item that emitted evil qi that slowly corrupted him. Feng Qi, thinking that he had transmigrated over to <The Legend of Resurrection>, wanted to complete the main quest in order to get his wish granted—to resurrect his dead parents. Not knowing that he was still in the real world and that his cognition had changed, Feng Qi “defeated” two criminals. His last requirement was to obtain a “dragon scale”, which was actually a cursed weapon called “Good Boy”, from the drug lord Master Liu.

Sunken Society had worked out a deal with Master Liu, granting him “Good Boy” so he could rise in the underground world. After 10 years, it was time for him to return the spirit weapon. Reluctant to do so since he was also cursed by it, Sunken Society recruited Feng Qi (unknowingly) as a distraction for Shian and the police.

Amidst the confrontation between Shian, the police, the children, and Master Liu, Sunken Society would sneak in and steal the “Good Boy” back. However, things didn’t go as planned. Yin Ren interfered with their clean up and saved Ge Tingting and Feng Qi, while Zhong Chengshuo dealt with Master Liu and Sunken Society.

It is then revealed that Zhong Chengshuo is actually a top mercenary from Nightwalkers, another large organization, and possesses an extremely powerful cursed spirit weapon called “Evil Fruit”.

All in all, the bad guys are defeated, and Ge Tingting will now join them.

Side Characters:

Ge Tingting is a child from a mountain village. Her parents died protecting her during a car accident, which triggered her latent corpse servant ability. This made her unable to understand and communicate through talking with people. She was targeted by an assaulter and inadvertently activated her corpse servant ability, killing the guy in self-defense. She encounters her savior, Feng Qi, and becomes corrupted by evil qi. She then helps the kid finish his “quest” so she can “return” to her original world.

She was saved by Yin Ren during the confrontation with Master Liu and is now recovering. She is going to join Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo’s team.

Feng Qi is a child who was celebrating his birthday. On the day of, his parents went out to pick up his cake and died in a car accident. Exploiting this, Sunken Society approached him and gave him a keychain from his mom that was corrupted with evil qi. This activated his latent powers and warped his cognition. He then thought he had transmigrated into the game <The Legend of Resurrection> that his family would always play and hoped to complete the main quest in order to revive his parents.

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 42: Curse

In order to create the illusion of “going home”, Zhong Chengshuo specifically went back to the gym. After confirming he was captured by surveillance, he ran through the heavy rain and into a bus stop near the community.

As soon as he stopped, he found Yin Ren waiting for him at the entrance.

At this distance, both he and Yin Ren could just see each other.

Yin Ren was holding a black umbrella and looking relaxed. He was wearing loose home clothes, and his long hair was draped dryly on his shoulders. Behind him was Ping’an Manor. He wasn’t sure if it was because there was so much commotion going on that night, but many homes still had their lights on.

The warm-colored windows were like lights, outlining the figure in front of them.

This was reminiscent of Gao Mengyu’s case when they walked along the river at night. There were similar sporadic warm lights on the other side of the river.

Yin Ren had also spotted Zhong Chengshuo—he was waving in his direction. Zhong Chengshuo wiped the rain from his chin, intending to greet him as if nothing had happened.

Then he saw the familiar smile on Yin Ren’s face.

Zhong Chengshuo paused.

Not so long ago, in Gao Mengyu’s apartment, Yin Ren also smiled with such a cheerful and calm smile, saying that he needed to be alone to “meditate”.

Zhong Chengshuo complied and exited the apartment, closing the door behind him.

Like glaciers that were thousands of years old cracking, a raging cold river swept in, and in an instant, thousands of icicles pierced his heart, and the cold wind blinded him through all his pores. A majestic killing intent exploded from behind him.

Zhong Chengshuo immediately got goosebumps. It wasn’t a ghost, nor was it magic. That was just pure malice and hostility from a creature.

At that moment, he felt as if he were floating in the deep winter sea, resisting a never-ending storm with just his body alone. The killing intent in the apartment was so strong and fierce that it wasn’t something a “normal human” could do.

Zhong Chengshuo clenched his fists, and his body trembled slightly. The corners of his mouth curled up as his thoughts turned. His heartbeat continued to accelerate with excitement.

Will Yin Ren be his enemy?

…Or his prey?

“Do you feel anything?” At that time, facing Yin Ren, who had just walked out, Zhong Chengshuo asked this seemingly unintentionally.

The man grinned and waved his hand. “I just feel hungry.”

‘No, it’s impossible to confirm how “dangerous” he is,’ Zhong Chengshuo thought at that time.

After that, Zhong Chengshuo took a sample of Yin Ren’s hair, as he needed to collect more evidence.

……

So far, Zhong Chengshuo only knew that Yin Ren’s strength wasn’t weak. The origin of this person was so mysterious that even Shian didn’t have a clue.

What exactly is “Yin Ren”? What does he want to do? Does it have anything to do with the “Evil Spirits”? …Did Yin Ren intervene tonight?

Seeing that familiar smile again, memories of the killing intent gushed out so suddenly that Zhong Chengshuo forgot to move.

Seeing that Zhong Chengshuo didn’t react, Yin Ren simply greeted him with an umbrella. He got to the bus stop and neatly shook the rain off the umbrella.

Under the warm streetlights, the two looked at each other quietly.

“You came back just in time. All that commotion had finally stopped.” Yin Ren scratched the tip of his nose. “Judging by how things look, it seems the two children have been sent to the hospital, and they can’t contact their families for the time being…”

“Aren’t you worried about your family?” Zhong Chengshuo didn’t follow the conversation. His dark eyes were like the muzzle of a gun, pointing straight at Yin Ren.

“…What?”

He didn’t know if it was because of his excursion just now, but vigilance, curiosity, and excitement were all intertwined, causing Zhong Chengshuo’s hair to coldly stand up. His state of mind was highly concentrated and unprecedentedly good.

In his vision, except for his target, Yin Ren, everything around him dimmed.

As long as Yin Ren lied, he was confident he could instantly expose it.

Even if his opponent attacked him because of this exposure… the Evil Fruit was in his bag. He could grab it in under two seconds.

“You haven’t remembered anything so far.” Zhong Chengshuo moved his fingers slightly and continued, “Your family might be waiting for you.”

What answer will he get? Lies, prevacation… Or will he change the subject?

Yin Ren didn’t immediately reply.

He turned his head and casually glanced at Zhong Chengshuo as if they were having a nice chat.

“I like to let fate take its course. When it arrives, those who should meet will definitely meet. If that’s not within my fate, then there’s no point in worrying about it.”

Yin Ren stared straight into Zhong Chengshuo’s eyes. His eyes were bent in a smile. Most of the good smell on his body was covered by the rain, but Zhong Chengshuo could still smell a bit of it.

“…And you’re my family now, which I think is quite good.”

This person isn’t lying.

Like a sharp knife piercing the air, his tight defense lost its fulcrum. Zhong Chengshuo’s scalp went numb. He was at a loss for a moment.

He didn’t understand.

“Let’s stop talking here and return home quickly. Hey, you should probably wring out your clothes first. You should be careful not to catch a cold since you’re all wet.” The culprit looked at the corner of Zhong Chengshuo’s dripping clothes and clicked his tongue.

“Ah… Let’s talk about it when we get home,” Zhong Chengshuo replied in a haze.

He clenched the strap of his bag tightly. His cold and wet clothes were like the hands of the dead, sticking so tightly to his body that it made his huge scar protrude slightly.

Yin Ren suddenly realized something. “You don’t want to take off your shirt in front of others? Don’t worry. All the surveillance cameras are broken right now. Shian’s busy repairing them. Should I turn around?”

Zhong Chengshuo: “……” That’s not the problem.

However, he was still immersed in that blankness and had no energy to respond.

Yin Ren pondered for a moment.

In the shadows, Yin Ren made a gun gesture with his other hand. In the next moment, he suddenly turned around and aimed his index finger at Zhong Chengshuo’s forehead.

This action came without warning. The hostility that had just been broken gathered in an instant. Zhong Chengshuo subconsciously lowered his sense of gravity. His muscles tightened all over his body, and he was just about to move—

“Bang!” Yin Ren said with a smile.

For an instant, the rain around the two of them condensed in the air.

It wasn’t just the rain that froze. Countless pearl-sized drops of water burst out from Zhong Chengshuo’s clothes and floated around the two of them. His drenched clothing and hair instantly became dry, as if he wasn’t even soaked before.

The round water drops floated in the air, surrounding the two of them under the warm streetlights, looking like fireflies that were reflecting the broken light like diamonds.

They swam very slowly, and one of them hit Yin Ren’s “muzzle”.

Tap.

Yin Ren poked lightly, causing the drop of water to bounce on Zhong Chengshuo’s forehead in response, splitting into a fine mist.

The touch was warm and cool.

The moment the water drop exploded, Zhong Chengshuo’s heart stopped for a second. He didn’t know if this was the aftermath of the battle, but a shiver ran down his back inexplicably.

“What do you think? This is a little trick I learned tonight. Isn’t it awesome?”

Yin Ren leaned closer with a smile. He used his umbrella to whisk away the raindrops that were frozen in the air and covered Zhong Chengshuo’s head with half of the umbrella.

“Alright. Let’s go home.”

The moment he said this, the rain poured again, jumping and tapping on the surface of the umbrella. Zhong Chengshuo didn’t know if it was because he was no longer wet or if Yin Ren was too close to him, but the surroundings suddenly warmed up, especially his ears, which seemed to have gotten hot.

He couldn’t help but cover one of his ears with one hand, but the enthusiasm was so insatiable that it began to spread to his cheeks. The tension had dissipated, but his heartbeat didn’t return to normal.

…Perhaps he was affected by some kind of curse when he was attacked, but he didn’t think he was under the effects of a curse. Zhong Chengshuo shook his head hard, trying to get rid of this mysterious intensity.

“Oh right, you twisted your ankle. Let me give you a hand.”

Yin Ren was unaware of Zhong Chengshuo’s entanglement. As Lord Ghost King was speaking, he had already grabbed his partner’s arm and put it on his shoulder.

Zhong Chengshuo didn’t respond and turned his face away, letting his facial expression be buried deeply in the night.

At this moment, Yin Ren was in a good mood.

While the two were walking back, Yin Ren sniffed quietly. Zhong Chengshuo had almost no evil qi on his body. The level of dealing with traces was top-notch, which meant his fighting skills weren’t low.

However, he didn’t feel any killing intent from this person. After something like this happened, it seemed that Zhong Chengshuo didn’t intend to have a showdown with him.

So far, he still seemed to want to continue living in peace with him.

Didn’t this mean that everything was settled?

‘Today’s tentative mission was successfully completed,’ Yin Ren thought lazily. As for tomorrow’s affairs, he’ll put them off for his tomorrow’s self to deal with. He still hadn’t finished his game yet.

……

Room 601 Building 4. The windows were lit up again.

Yin Ren put away the umbrella and glanced at Zhong Chengshuo. It wasn’t a serious look, but Lord Ghost King was shocked. “Zhong Ge, do you have a fever?”

Why was his face so red, as if he had been slapped? It obviously wasn’t so serious just now.

Zhong Chengshuo ignored him and limped back to his bedroom, then slammed the door shut.

“Remember to take medicine! Also, help me prepare some stomach medicine.”

On the other side of the thick door panel, Zhong Chengshuo reluctantly responded with an “Nn”.

Yin Ren shook his head in amusement. He collapsed on the sofa, took out his phone, and was just about to beg for forgiveness from Comrade Liang Shan—

“Click.”

The sound of Zhong Chengshuo locking his bedroom door was deafening at midnight when everything else was extremely quiet.

Yin Ren: “???”

The two of them had lived in peace for almost a month. Why did this kid suddenly lock his door?

Was he in a bad mood? Did he tease Comrade Xiao Zhong too much? But Lu Xiaohe had done the same thing. Last time, didn’t Zhong Chengshuo even play along? Why did he get angry when it was him?

Zhong Chengshuo didn’t seem to expect the sound of him locking his bedroom door to be so loud. Two seconds later, another “click” sounded from the door, as if he were saying, “I accidently locked the door just now.”

Yin Ren could feel the obvious guilt.

A few seconds later, there was another self-defeating “click” from the door.

Oh, he locked it again.

Yin Ren exerted a bit of strength and deliberately walked heavily to Zhong Chengshuo’s door. “Zhong Ge, are you okay?”

He had never hesitated to bring the greatest embarrassment to mankind.

“I want to take a shower.” Zhong Chengshuo tried to cover up, but obviously failed*.

*There are no three hundred taels of silver here (此地无银三百两) It’s an idiom referring to trying to cover up something but instead exposing the truth. It comes from a folk story. You can read it in my Kinky Thoughts.

Why? Are you afraid I’ll stage a surprise attack while you’re showering? Yin Ren snorted. He wouldn’t trespass… Wait, he seemed to have done something similar before.

Alright fine. I guess he’s justified.

“Remember to come out and play with me after you finish showering.” Yin Ren returned to the sofa dejectedly. The case was over, but they still had the tail end of <The Legend of Resurrection> left to finish. There would definitely be a work summary next week, and their progress wasn’t looking good.

There was only the sound of rushing water coming from Zhong Chengshuo’s room. Yin Ren wasn’t sure if he had heard what he said.

Yin Ren had always refused to go to bed early. Lord Ghost King happily ordered three servings of spicy crayfish with different flavors and prepared for a night battle with a modern-day dog-blooded drama. As a result, just as he was about to turn off the lights and adjust the volume, Zhong Chengshuo’s bedroom door clicked open, and he cautiously walked out.

Yin Ren gave him a sideways glance.

“We should finish fighting the Dragon of Destruction before we go to bed.” Zhong Chengshuo sat normally and explained to the potted plant next to the TV.

Comrade Zhong Chengshuo was wearing his formal pajamas, but unlike before, this time, his nightcap was a little exaggerated—it wrapped around most of his head and covered his ears tightly.

“Let’s hurry and finish the fight so you can go to bed earlier.” Yin Ren hummed. “Hey, do you think something is off? I always feel like I have forgotten something…”

Zhong Chengshuo tugged the nightcap and contemplated for a few seconds, then silently nodded his head in agreement.

What is it? Ah, forget it. Whatever it is can be put off until tomorrow. The two of them grabbed their controllers and looked at the big screen.

On the TV.

Yin Ren controlled his “vampire prince” to rise in the air and throw an invalid attack at the “vampire hunter”, adding rain-like special effects around him.

Off screen.

In the Shian Small Work Group, Liang Shan sent another 60-second voice message.

……

The next day.

As soon as the two got up, they received a preliminary investigation from Shian.

Someone had taken Feng Qi’s mother’s keychain, contaminated it with evil qi, and then returned it to the desperate child. Based on the existing clues, it was inferred that this was done by Sunken Society.

Feng Qi successfully survived the corruption and gained an unusual ability. However, for a combatant who could only attack “murderers” and was quickly moving to his death, Sunken Society obviously had little interest in him.

They just gave Feng Qi some false information and used him as bait to teach a drug lord a lesson.

…Similar to abandoning an unsuccessful experiment.

Now that the keychain had been carefully confiscated, Ge Tingting’s and Feng Qi’s vital signs became stable, and there were no serious problems for the time being.

Master Liu and his gang were wiped out, and the cursed weapon “Good Boy” was successfully recovered by Shian. Except for the small and unnatural movements from Sunken Society, the ending could be considered happy.

The fact remained that two children killed two people couldn’t be erased, but their situation was special. After discussion, the police had a rough inference.

Regarding Wu Tao, in Ge Tingting’s case, it belonged to self-defense, while Feng Qi’s behavior was considered excessive self-defense. Ma Jiangshuai’s case was characterized as manslaughter. At the time of the incident, Feng Qi was mainly responsible. He was still under 12 while Ge Tingting was a little over 16, which meant the two of them weren’t criminally responsible.

Taking into account the mental condition and family situation of the two children, after the interrogation process was completed, the two would be handed over to Shian for special correction and education, the length of which would depend on the outcome of the interrogation.

In their cases, it was difficult for them to return to society and obtain normal jobs once they grew up. While on the surface it was considered “special correction education”, for Shian, it was actually “treatment” plus “incorporation”.

Shian-Small Working Group.

[Milky Way: Ge Tingting has woken up, and Feng Qi is out of danger. Most likely, he’ll wake up in two days.]

[Milky Way: I just don’t know what kind of sequelae there will be.]

[Fruit Knife: As long as they’re okay 🙏.]

[Final Fruit: Well, as long as everyone is okay.]

[The River Flows Eastward: ?]

[The River Flows Eastward: I thought you two were in the hospital too (expletive) (expletive) (expletive) (expletive)]

[Milky Way: Uh, Lao Liang, control your emotions.]

[Fruit Knife: Sorry Liang Ge! I was a little deflated last night and forgot about it! Wuwu 😭]

[Fruit Knife: So was Zhong Ge. It rained yesterday, and he caught a fever when he got home.]

[Final Fruit: ……]

[Final Fruit: I’m sorry, wuwu]

[Milky Way: ………………]

[The River Flows Eastward: Forget it. I didn’t hear from you last night, so I invited three buddies from the police station to eat.]

[The River Flows Eastward: 🧧🧧🧧]

[Fruit Knife: No, no, we’re sorry. Consider it a treat for our police comrades.]

[Fruit Knife: Next time, we promise to arrive one hour in advance!]

[Fruit Knife: Speaking of which, Xiaohe Jie, can I go to the hospital to see Feng Qi?]

[Milky Way: Yes, but he hasn’t woken up yet. The child is too young. When he wakes up, we’ll have to find a way to trick him about using his ability to kill people.]

[Fruit Knife: I know. I just want to see him. I won’t say much.]

[Final Fruit: I’ll go too.]

In the room, Yin Ren looked at Zhong Chengshuo with some surprise—he was cleaning the kitchen stove while replying to the text messages. Yin Ren wanted to go out for a stroll and had no intention of helping with Zhong Chengshuo’s cleaning.

However, feeling his gaze, Comrade Zhong Chengshuo didn’t look back and instead wiped the stove even more vigorously.

[Milky Way: Seeing as how well you guys behaved last night, you can go.]

[Fruit Knife: By the way, I want to go to Feng Qi’s house first. Xiaohe Jie, can you help? 🥺]

……

On Sunday afternoon, Haigu People’s Hospital.

There was a gift shop downstairs in the hospital. Yin Ren bought a music box and added a black dragon plush toy. Zhong Chengshuo looked around as he carried two bags of apples.

“You seem to be very good at this.”

At the checkout, Zhong Chengshuo spoke hesitantly as he saw the bulging bag in Yin Ren’s hand.

“No such thing. It’s just a little guess.” Yin Ren glanced back at the two bags of apples. “You don’t have to learn from me. In fact, communicating with children is quite easy—as long as you speak from your heart, they can feel it.”

“…” Zhong Chengshuo lowered his head and became lost in his thoughts.

When they visited, Ge Tingting was sleeping. The girl lay quietly on the hospital bed and slept soundly. Her dry and chapped lips were now moist and had returned to a healthy color.

Yin Ren didn’t bother her. He entrusted his gift to her with the nurse and walked to Feng Qi’s ward.

Feng Qi happened to be staying in Wu Pengpeng’s original room.

Since Feng Qi’s corruption was brought under control, Wu Pengpeng quickly returned to normal. He was taken to the police station right after he was discharged from the hospital. As for Qian Zhicheng—that orange head had already left the hospital. After this incident, Qian Zhicheng was so frightened that he changed his ways. It was said that besides going to work and school, he dared not leave his apartment.

The nurse in the ward was still the 1103 that they were familiar with.

Seeing Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo holding gifts, the nurse subconsciously cracked her knuckles.

On the hospital bed, Feng Qi’s thin body was covered in tubes. His eyes were tightly closed, and his chest was breathing smoothly. The moment the two entered, he seemed to notice something and slowly opened his eyes.

His pupils were somewhat distorted, but they were much clearer than before.

“I’m really back…”

He stared at the ceiling in a daze. His voice was low, but everyone present could hear it.

The boy wasn’t interested in Yin Ren and Zhong Chengshuo, who came over. He just stared at the light on the ceiling with dry, dull eyes.

“Mom… Dad…”

“Feng Qi.” Yin Ren took two steps forward. He put the gift he had bought at the door and only carried a simple bag with him.

Feng Qi turned his head and saw Yin Ren’s face. The boy was taken aback. He was silent for a few seconds before he spoke in a small, weak voice.

“Who are you?”

“The person in charge of your parents’ case.” Yin Ren carefully sat down on the edge of the bed. “We caught another bad guy. We went to your house for a search yesterday and found something.”

Feng Qi looked at Yin Ren with interest.

“I found this at the bottom of your closet.” Yin Ren opened the paper bag and revealed its contents. “We think you are likely to need it now.”

It was a roughly wrapped gift with a brightly colored ribbon wrapped around it. A small card was attached to the wrapping paper—

[Feng Family Game Grand Prix—Special Prize: A new game console anyone will love]

[To the greatest adventurer in the world. Mom and Dad wish you will be forever brave.]

The boy was stunned. He struggled to lift his hand and touch the gift.

That was right; it was his birthday.

He had forgotten about it.

“The bottom… of the closet…?” Deep in Feng Qi’s eyes, there was a spark that lit up again.

“Yes,” Yin Ren said softly. “Don’t worry. We didn’t touch anything in the house. But there was something strange… The game console in the house was still on, as if someone had touched it.”

“It didn’t go to sleep, and the game characters were all in a flower field full of stars. Sorry, we didn’t watch the scene too carefully. The previous save file should be very important to you—”

Feng Qi’s tears rushed down his cheeks all at once.

This time, there was no blood in them, and they were distinctly clear.

“Mm.” He choked and coughed several times. “Now… it’s also… very important… the most important… to me.”

“Don’t agitate my patient,” the nurse warned coldly. “You guys, leave.”

But this time, she didn’t throw them out.

“I have something to say to Mr. Feng,” Zhong Chengshuo suddenly said. “Yin Ren, go out first. I’ll stay for a bit.”

Yin Ren made a funny face at Feng Qi and then left the room without asking anything.

Anyway, the sound insulation here wasn’t that good.

Inside the ward.

Under the icy glare of the nurse, Zhong Chengshuo squatted down by Feng Qi’s bedside and looked at him.

The boy’s eyes were still red, and his hands, which were full of infusion needles, were gripping tightly on the ribbon of his gift, refusing to let go no matter what.

“I know you’re sad now,” Zhong Chengshuo spoke cautiously, “and I don’t know how to comfort you.”

Feng Qi looked at him in silence.

“My colleague knows more about the <The Legend of Resurrection> than I do. He can find gifts and save files.”

Zhong Chengshuo tilted his head. His eyes were as deep as ever. He slowly stretched out his right hand and, after hesitating for a moment, carefully patted the boy’s head.

“I don’t know what you think of death,” he said softly. “Do you like plants?”

Feng Qi nodded hesitantly.

“To me, death means the disappearance of ‘the part above the soil’, but the roots beneath will not be dried up instantly.”

The boy looked at Zhong Chengshuo half-understandingly.

“Your parents… When you grow up, you can see them in your physical features. You can find them in your habits and discover them in your diseases. Their shadow will be in your personality, thinking, joy, and pain.”

This was science, and science didn’t lie.

Zhong Chengshuo took back his hand.

“This is the ‘remnant root’. Whether it’s good or bad, they will really disappear the moment you die,” he explained in a low voice. “So, your parents didn’t completely leave you.”

Feng Qi fixed his gaze on Zhong Chengshuo, who had stood up rather uncomfortably.

“Then, that’s all I have to say.”

“Thank you.” Feng Qi struggled to raise the corner of his mouth to give him a smile.

“Brother… can you also help… the person next door. He… has been asking for help…” He moved his fingers and pointed to the ward where the serial murderer, Guo Laifu, was. Yin Ren hadn’t shut the door well, so the disordered and frenzied screams were still trickling in from the crack of the door.

Zhong Chengshuo’s movement froze in mid-air.

“Can you understand him?” His gaze returned to the boy’s face.

“Yes……” Feng Qi said weakly.

“He keeps screaming… screaming the same thing.”

“He’s saying, ‘Mommy, mommy, I’m so scared’.”

---

The author has something to say:

Lord Ghost King ran away after he finished teasing! (pointing.jpg）

Xiao Zhong: Damn it, what a powerful curse!

So the truth about Gao Mengyu’s cat case——

Inside the house: Lord Ghost King killing intent frightens the cat.

Outside the house: Minister Fu’s and Xiao Zhong’s eyes tremble.

---

Kinky Thoughts:

Our Zhong Chengshuo is reaching enlightenment.

—-

Folk story:

Once upon a time, there was a man named Zhang San who worked hard every day and managed to save three hundred taels of silver. He was very happy, but at the same time worried, always afraid that someone would steal his money. After thinking about it, Zhang San found a big box, put the three hundred taels in the box, then dug a hole in an open space behind the house and buried the box deeply in the ground.

After doing this, Zhang San felt relieved and was about to go back to rest, but before leaving, he took a look at the place where the box was buried and became worried again, fearing that someone would accidentally dig it out. So he slapped his head and came up with a “good solution”. He quickly took out a piece of paper and wrote on it: “There’s no three hundred taels of silver here.” After writing it, he pasted the note on the corner of the wall and then left with peace of mind.

Zhang San’s abnormal behavior was seen by his neighbor, Wang Er. Wang Er felt curious, so he sneaked behind Zhang San’s house while he was asleep and saw the note by moonlight. Wang Er instantly understood at once, so he dug up the box and stole the silver. Seeing the money, Wang Er was very excited, but he was also afraid of being discovered by Zhang San, so he hurriedly filled the hole again. After thinking about it, he also took a piece of paper and wrote on it: “Your neighbor Wang Er never stole it.”, and pasted it on the corner of the wall where the previous note was.

The next morning, after Zhang San got up, he went to the back of the house to look at his silver, and suddenly found that it was gone. After seeing the note pasted by Wang Er, he immediately understood: Wang Er had stolen his money!

---

<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

---

Chapter 41: Going Home

July 10^th, 9:05.

Feng Qi jumped out of bed with anticipation. Today was his birthday and also a Saturday, so he didn’t have to go to school.

The small store his family owned was closed for business. His mom and dad had closed the store so they could celebrate his birthday with him. Feng Qi took out the cartridge for <The Legend of Resurrection> from the bottom of his bed and quickly arranged the console and controller.

Today was the third “Feng Family Game Grand Prix”!

July 10^th, 11:47.

In <The Legend of Resurrection>, dad’s “shield warrior” and mom’s “priest” froze in place. Feng Qi manipulated his little swordsman to run around as he happily did the side quest of picking apples.

After completing the quest, no quest items would be given, but instead he could get a cute garland that could be hung on the outside door of a player’s home.

Mom liked that garland very much.

In the kitchen a few steps away, the sound of cooking was mixed with the faint conversation of his parents. Feng Qi smelled his favorite fried shrimp and braised pork ribs, causing him to jump excitedly on the sofa several times.

July 10^th, 12:30.

“Oops, I filled in the delivery address to our store.” After answering the call from the delivery man, his father had an embarrassed smile on his face. “Fortunately, it’s not too far away. I’ll go get the cake.”

“I also want to drink orange juice.” Feng Qi drank all the Coke in his cup and took the opportunity to make a request.

“I’ll go too. I’ll have your dad carry the orange juice,” his mom replied with a smile. “That way I don’t have to worry about him breaking the cake.”

July 10^th, 12:49.

It was only five or six minutes away from their small store that was close to home. His mom and dad were so slow. Since they were late, it shouldn’t matter if he ate a shrimp first, right?

He quietly ate a deep-fried shrimp. While staring at the door, he quickly rearranged the remaining shrimp.

Fortunately, he wasn’t caught by his parents.

July 10^th, 12:58.

Mom and dad still hadn’t returned.

July 10^th, 15:16.

Mom and Dad still didn’t come back, and they weren’t picking up their phone.

July 11^th, 11:14.

Many strangers came into his home. They said that his parents were “gone”, and even a few distant relatives wanted to take him away.

Why did he have to leave? This was obviously his home. Maybe they were all mistaken, and his parents would suddenly return home and surprise him.

Feng Qi locked the door to his room. When those people walked away, shaking their heads, he quietly opened it again.

The cheerful background music of the game was looping continuously. The big meal on the table had gone completely cold. His mom’s and dad’s rice bowls had only been slightly touched. The rice grains in the bowl were dry and hard, and the chopsticks were still resting in their original position.

The sauce on the fried shrimp had completely dried out, giving off a vague sour smell. It no longer looked even remotely appetizing.

Tomorrow was Monday. Feng Qi didn’t want to go to school.

Who would wake him up?

July 11^th, 20:31.

Feng Qi sneaked out and stood quietly at the “scene of the accident”. He didn’t understand and couldn’t figure it out.

He found nothing. A kind-hearted person had quietly slipped him a little “relic”. It was his mother’s favorite family photo keychain, and he hated the term “relic”.

It was already dark, but he didn’t want to go back to his original residence. The room had become emptier and bigger, and everything now felt unfamiliar.

Feng Qi knew that the game console was still on, and the food was still there, but he didn’t want to look at them.

He found a corner in the flower bed, curled up, and held the keychain tightly to his chest.

July 12^th, 6:12.

Feng Qi was awakened by something cool.

He opened his eyes, and a peculiar creature came into view—it had clear, lovely eyes and beautiful white scales like falling snow. Seeing that he was awake, the thing lowered its head obediently and gently arched at him.

It looked like a small flying dragon.

Feng Qi opened his eyes wide and looked around.

Monsters that had never been seen before were flying over the sky. A magnificent castle was traced with red edges by the rising sun. Not far away, the dirty keychain turned into a sterling silver badge. The badge lay on the verdant grass, and the family photo was finely embedded behind it.

In the photo, the smiling faces of his parents were particularly vivid.

The white young dragon spread its wings and rested near the badge.

“Good morning, great adventurer. Welcome to the world of <The Legend of Resurrection>. I am Ibby, your guide.”

It lowered its head and pushed the badge closer with its nose.

“Please wear your badge. You can use it to summon me at any time.”

Feng Qi froze in place in a daze. After a long time, his eyes started to light up bit by bit.

……

July 23^rd, 23:31.

Feng Qi’s ears were buzzing constantly, and his limbs were paralyzed to the point of losing consciousness. The surrounding sounds seemed to be separated by a thin water film, and all he could barely manage to control was a pair of eyes.

He knew he was about to die.

He had never been so tired, and his drowsiness was as if he had swallowed a shot put and it was slowly getting heavier as it descended. Oddly enough, his vision had become clearer than before.

At first, he didn’t perceive the Dragon of Destruction at all. After that, he could detect the smell of the dragon from that beautiful hero.

And now he could see the complete form of the Dragon of Destruction.

In the sapphire-like night sky, under the twinkling diamonds, the black dragon was as dark as night, exuding a breath-taking aura. It had blood-red eyes—clearly a sign of a dangerous color—but the redness was soft, without the slightest bit of a bloody aura.

It opened its black wings with beautiful patterns and held him in the air with a ray of magic as it stared at him calmly.

It was a thing of magnificence and shocking beauty, thousands of times better than the images in the game.

Feng Qi tremblingly stretched out his hand and touched the cool and slippery dragon scales.

“I have to clear the game. I have a wish that must be fulfilled. Please…”

He didn’t feel how sad he was, but he couldn’t stop his tears.

“Is it because of this?” The dragon asked.

The familiar silver badge floated in front of him, with the photo he was most familiar with on the back.

Feng Qi’s lips quivered. Before he could make a sound, Ibby broke free from his arms and flew towards the silver badge. The young dragon used all its strength to rub against the silver badge affectionately, then licked it carefully with its tongue.

“……Yes.”

Feng Qi’s lips trembled as he continued to struggle.

“I… I used it to summon Ibby…”

“This thing is yours?” The dragon’s voice became gentler. “You’ve been wearing it on your body, and it has never left you?”

“This is my mother’s item. Someone gave it to me after they…”

The dragon was silent for a while.

“What’s your name?” It asked.

“Feng Qi,” the boy replied as he raised his head with difficulty. His voice was so small that it was almost inaudible.

“My name is Feng Qi…”

……

Yin Ren hugged the boy tightly in his arms. He knew that the child had reached his limits.

Under the influence of the evil qi, Feng Qi’s perceptual ability had mutated. He had “observation beyond common sense” and could now influence others in this way.

For some reason, these observations were all distorted things in <The Legend of Resurrection>. He imagined his own power as magic, and the perceived environment as a different world…

In order to make this all easier for him to understand, he even imagined “his own subconscious” as a guide named “Ibby”.

It was a nihilistic imagination that only the boy himself could see, and the evil qi it emitted couldn’t be detected.

Feng Qi.

Yin Ren remembered this name.

When he was investigating the rogue corpse servant, he had seen such a name in the vast list of the dead.

Feng Qi, 10 years old.

He wasn’t a deceased on the list but the survivor of the deceased Feng Shuangzhi and Lu Xiaoqi.

Feng Shuangzhi and Lu Xiaoqi were husband and wife. They owned a small store in Shangguang District. At 12:38 on July 10^th of this year, both of them died in a car accident on their way home.

The story wasn’t complicated. The driver, who was under the influence of drugs, was arrested on the spot.

In the column full of countless deaths, they weren’t the most special or the most tragic. They died too suddenly, and their corpses were disposed of quickly after their deaths, which wasn’t enough time to create a rogue corpse servant.

…But their deaths created something else.

Human potential often bursts out when people encounter extreme pain or despair. Feng Qi used this to survive the corruption of the evil qi, and it gave him an almost cursed gift.

But the brain of a living person couldn’t bear such a burden. As the corruption increased, his abilities became stronger, and he moved closer to death.

“You want to resurrect your parents, right?” Yin Ren sighed.

“This world is called <The Legend of Resurrection>.”

Feng Qi clenched Yin Ren’s hair tightly, like a drowning person grasping his last lifeline. His eyes were congested, his tone was rapid, and the corners of his mouth were dripping with pus and blood.

“There’s magic in this world that can bring back the dead…”

Yin Ren touched his head.

He could see death in Feng Qi’s eyes, although the boy may not have had time to understand what death was.

After the spell was brushed over, the rain on Feng Qi’s body instantly evaporated. The evil qi turned into warm air, and the temperature around the two of them seemed to be like a comfortable early summer.

“I’m not sure what you mean by <The Legend of Resurrection>.” Yin Ren maintained the boy’s fragile illusion. “But there’s no magic in this world that can bring back the dead.”

Feng Qi was speechless. He continued to grab Yin Ren’s hair without letting go; his eyes were in a trance, showing a look of pleading.

Yin Ren sighed. “I’m an acquaintance of ‘Death’, and this is a secret he told me.”

Yin Ren had looked up the ending of the game in advance.

As a second-rate game, it had a simple ending.

If they successfully cleared the game, the palace magician would fulfill the player’s wish. The final boss was the Dragon of Destruction. The player had no chance to encounter ‘Death’ and even the rescued prince only existed in the narratives.

How sloppy. It allowed people to accept all kinds of follow-ups at will.

“Death is just. He took away the wise prince not out of malice but because the prince… was unlucky. Even if the dead are forcibly resurrected, they won’t really be ‘human’.”

In a sense, this wasn’t a lie.

Feng Qi couldn’t help but sob. The hand holding Yin Ren’s hair started trembling.

“The prince may no longer be able to think normally and may have to watch as his body slowly rots. In any case, he will become a monster in the eyes of everyone.”

“Even if it’s a ‘resurrection’ like this, do you still want to bring your parents back?”

From beginning to end, no matter how weak Feng Qi was, there was always light in his eyes. At this moment, the light slowly went out. He looked at the keychain blankly, no longer trembling, no longer sobbing.

“I just…”

His voice was weak and hoarse, and his body was like a candle that could be extinguished at any moment, without the slightest bit of vitality.

“I haven’t said goodbye to them yet… I…”

His breathing was getting lighter.

Yin Ren stared at him for a while, his eyes flickering with uncertainty.

“Then make a wish to me. Make a wish to see them again.”

He recalled the tone of the “Dragon of Destruction” in the game as he floated smoothly in the sea of stars.

“At the cost of your ability, I can fulfill your wish and then send you back to your hometown.”

“The dead cannot come back to life, but you still have time to say goodbye to them.”

Yin Ren’s chest was a little wet. The boy’s blood and tears had soaked through his clothes. After a long time, Feng Qi finally let go of Yin Ren’s hair and buried his face deep in his chest.

The young dragon Ibby gave a yell and then closed its eyes equally meekly.

“Great adventurer, this is an important choice… It’s related to the ending of the game. Please choose carefully.”

Its voice was weak and calm, with a hint of subtle relief.

“…I see.” Feng Qi murmured. He was still buried in Yin Ren’s chest, which muffled his voice. “Dragon of Destruction… Lord Oberskras… I want to go home.”

Go back home to where mom and dad were.

“Okay,” Yin Ren replied softly.

He stretched out his hand and covered the boy’s cloudy eyes with his palm.

July 23^rd, 12:35.

The morning light passed through his eyelids, and Feng Qi suddenly woke up.

He was lying on his familiar bed. The electronic calendar at the head of the bed amazingly showed “July 10^th, 9:05.”

The coldness and pain in his whole body disappeared, and he felt so light as if he could fly. Feng Qi’s nose turned instantly sour as he got out of bed and ran into his parents’ bedroom.

He pounced on his mother, who was still in her pajamas.

‘It really smells like mom,’ he thought.

“Oh you, what’s up with you so early this morning?” His mom pinched his face. “Lao Feng, take care of your son. I have to change.”

“Swordsman Feng, hurry up and prepare the game with dad!” His dad put on his slippers and took out the console with a smile.

Feng Qi shook his head desperately. He didn’t want to cry, but tears welled up from his eyes uncontrollably.

His mom stroked his back. “What’s wrong, Qiqi? Why are you crying like this?”

“I…” Feng Qi grabbed his mother’s pajamas tightly. “I had a nightmare.”

July 23^rd, 23:46.

Feng Qi didn’t touch <The Legend of Resurrection>. He stuck to his parents and obediently stood in the kitchen to help.

“Okay, birthday boy, the oily smoke is going to choke you.” His mom pushed him out. “I have to discuss something with your dad.”

Feng Qi stood outside the kitchen and waited.

Has the sun ever been this bright in their house?

July 23^rd, 23:51.

Time passed quickly. The morning was already over in the blink of an eye. The family sat down around the table again.

“Cheers!” His mom and dad raised their cups of Coke. The deep-fried shrimp and braised pork ribs exuded a strong aroma.

It was a perfect morning. They didn’t play games and had their meal a lot earlier than expected. Most of the deep-fried shrimp were eaten. His father had skillfully peeled the shrimp shell for him, and soon the shrimp piled up into a hill on Feng Qi’s bowl.

However, just halfway through eating, his dad’s cellphone rang.

“Don’t answer it!” Feng Qi screamed as if he was scalded. “Let’s continue… Continue to eat, yeah?”

Amidst the pleasant melody, his parents look back at him in silence.

After a long time, his dad still answered the phone. Just like “last time”, the call was cut off quickly, and he had an apologetic smile on his face.

“I filled in the delivery address to our store,” he said. “I’m sorry. It’s dad’s fault.”

His mom put down the chopsticks and sighed lightly.

“Lao Feng, I shouldn’t have rushed you,” she said.

“I don’t want cake or orange juice.” Feng Qi seemed to understand something, but he wished he hadn’t. “It’s all my fault! It’s all my fault! I don’t want cake or orange juice for the rest of my life. I’ll never steal fried shrimp again. Please, don’t go!”

The sun was shining brightly, casting its light seductively over the dishes on the table. His mom’s and dad’s hands were warm, and their voices were as gentle as ever.

It was strange. He had heard their voices for so many years, but now he needed to hear them again before he could remember them.

If they really didn’t come back… Would he forget?

“What are you talking about?” His dad’s eyes became a little red. “In the future, when my son is successful, he’ll buy himself the best cake. One made from real animal cream.”

“You’re just growing up. Eat well.” His mom gave a reluctant smile. “You’re a big kid and know right from wrong.”

They stood up, put down their chopsticks carefully, and put on their coats. His mother leaned down and gently kissed him on the forehead.

July 23^rd, 23:57.

“Happy birthday, Qiqi.”

“Happy birthday, brat.”

“We got a present for you,” his dad said.

“It’s at the bottom in your closet,” his mom added. “Don’t be naughty, and make sure to listen to your teacher.”

His dad smiled. He had already started putting on his shoes. “Our son is smart. He will definitely get into A University in the future.”

For the first time in thirteen days, Feng Qi covered his eyes and started bawling. Tears dripped onto the dining table, causing the chopsticks to roll to the ground, creating a crisp sound.

“Why?”

His voice was hoarse. He didn’t know who or what he was asking.

He didn’t step forward to stop them, but just stood in despair.

“……Why!”

His father’s movement in putting on his shoes slowed slightly. His mom lifted up her purse, then put it down. The two exchanged glances, then walked back to the center of the house.

“Don’t cry. Come on, let’s play another game.” His dad walked in front of the game console and turned on <The Legend of Resurrection>.

The “shield warrior” and “priest” were surrounded by a little swordsman. They passed through the vicinity of the “Sleeping Mountains” in the game. The teleportation point to challenge the Dragon of Destruction hadn’t been opened yet. As of now, it wasn’t a battlefield but a particularly beautiful place under the starry sky.

“The hero will always go through a lot of suffering,” His mom controlled the priest and found a place with the best view, “but they will always continue their adventure, right Qiqi?’

“That’s right. You’re just like me, the strongest man in the world!”

“Oh, stop,” his mom glanced at his dad helplessly.

The three characters stopped at the Sea of Flowers in the Eternal Sleeping Mountains, where they could see the vast expanse of the sky in the game.

July 23^rd, 23:59.

His mom and dad stood at the door again to their home.

July 24^th, 00:00.

“Goodbye.” They smiled as they said goodbye to him.

……

Yin Ren slowly dropped to the ground.

In his arms, Feng Qi had fallen heavily asleep. His breathing was even and long.

Yin Ren removed most of the evil qi from the boy and most of the evil qi corruption on the keychain was also taken away by him. Shian should be able to handle the rest.

Although the effects of the corruption couldn’t be eradicated, at least Feng Qi could live a healthy life.

And it wasn’t like he came up empty-handed.

Yin Ren swallowed the strange evil qi. Not only did it not increase his burden, but it also made it a bit easier. How wonderful. It was like he was eating “meat”. It was like he had obtained a fragment of his “body’s memory”, and he found a way to manipulate the evil qi.

“A very good deal.”

He avoided Shian and the police and put the boy among the bushes behind Villa 18. Now that people were looking for Feng Qi everywhere, he believed the boy would be found soon.

Under the dry bushes, the boy curled up.

He seemed to be sleeping in someone’s arms, and his expression was calm. Sporadic tears would fill the corners of his eyes from time to time. Yin Ren bent down, took out the keychain that had lost its evil qi, and carefully placed it into the boy’s hand.

“Sweet dreams.”

After finishing this, Yin Ren tapped the boy’s brows and erased the boy’s memory of himself.

Next, the great “Dragon of Destruction” still had a mess to clean up.

Yin Ren snuck back to a corridor, took out his phone, and quickly opened the WeChat group.

In the Shian-Small Work Group, Liang Shan had sent more than a dozen voice messages in a row. After exiting WeChat, he found six missed calls; four from Liang Shan, one from Lu Xiaohe, and one from Zhong Chengshuo.

Yin Ren: “…” This kid sure knows how to act.

He cleared his throat, looked at Zhong Chengshuo’s missed call, and called back.

The call was quickly connected.

“Sorry, sorry, my phone was on silent,” Yin Ren lied solemnly. “Zhong Ge, how’s your side? Did you twist your ankle badly?”

“It’s fine.” He could hear the sound of rain coming from Zhong Chengshuo’s side. “It’s been taken care of. I’ll be home soon. How about you? Is your stomach better?”

“Much better. It’s just a bit empty. I went home just now to avoid the rain… Hey, did you bring an umbrella? I’ll come pick you up at the entrance of the community.”

“I don’t…”

“Why are you being so polite? You twisted your ankle, so it’s inconvenient,” Yin Ren interrupted him enthusiastically. “Can you get back on your own?”

“The gym isn’t far away. I can just walk…”

“Then I’ll go pick you up! It’s raining so much right now. What should I do if you catch a cold? Wait a minute. I’ll be right there—”

Before Zhong Chengshuo could decline, Yin Ren abruptly hung up the phone.

He steamed his body dry, picked up an umbrella from home, and rushed straight out to the entrance to the community.

Honestly, Yin Ren didn’t mind Zhong Chengshuo’s identity or motives. Now that they were both under Shian’s nose, and with Zhong Chengshuo having a secret that couldn’t be exposed, this made things more beneficial for him.

Yin Ren was concerned about another thing—it was both true that Zhong Chengshuo had “zero spirit” and was also “a master in the industry”. That kid took the initiative to take his broken hair, which meant he must’ve guessed his identity.

Lord Ghost King would not let go of this opportunity to test him.

At midnight, the sirens around Ping’an Manor were blaring. Criminals were sent into police cars one by one while Shian cultivators were running around cleaning up the aftermath. Yin Ren avoided the crowd. He propped up a big black umbrella and stood quietly at the entrance of the community. The rain made a dull tapping sound on the top of his umbrella.

He waited for Zhong Chengshuo, who had “just returned home”.

The man was carrying a gym bag and wearing a simple long-sleeve shirt. He was drenched to his skin as he stared blankly at Yin Ren. His long black hair was plastered on his face, making him look harmless and pitiful.

It was midnight. The thunder rumbled as the rain continued to pour.

Under the warm yellow streetlight, they seemed to have returned to the night when they first met.

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The author has something to say:

This arc is about to end~

Always like some Mr. and Mrs. Smith* who have a subtle (?) position!

*Referring to the movie starring Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt. The premise is that they are both assassins belonging to different competing agencies but are married to each other and try to keep their secrets from each other (which is similar to what’s going on here).

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Kinky Thoughts:

I didn’t expect to already be sobbing in just arc 2. Poor Feng Qi. I hope he gets a happy ending.

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<<< || Table of Contents || >>>

Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

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

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Chapter 40: Wish

Zhong Chengshuo didn’t act immediately.

Instead of provoking the two ghost masters on the second floor, he returned back outside the same way he came in. He turned to a covered area and started climbing the exterior wall to the second story with his bare hands.

Dark clouds obscured the sky. The night was like ink, and the moisture in the air was getting thicker. In the whistling wind, Zhong Chengshuo keenly captured a suppressed groan in the room.

He crawled over the windowsills like a gecko and found the source of the sound.

The bathroom on the second floor.

Plastic sheets were hung on the walls of the bathroom as Master Liu stood naked in the middle of the room, groaning in pain from time to time. The other person was a burly man who looked to be in his forties. He was wearing a dirty butcher’s apron and waving strangely shaped bone objects in his hand by Master Liu’s side.

Zhong Chengshuo recognized that person was Mud Meat Zhang. He squinted his eyes and looked at the chaotic scene in the room.

There were ordinary items such as hair dye and hair dryers on the ground, as well as some bottles and cans that were emitting a strange stench, and he didn’t recognize their contents.

Most of Master Liu’s body was slightly fat, with his stomach being the most prominent. His skin was sagging, and he had chloasma spots that were unique to the elderly. A small portion of his skin was like cream and had round curves, similar to that of a young woman.

He didn’t have an inch of hair. The only thing he was wearing was a necklace with a cloth bag hung around it.

Bones were flying about as Master Liu’s skin was randomly pulled and twisted, then picked up by the muddy flesh sheet. Occasionally, it would mix with the various colors of powder as if it turned into a soft pile of meat. As Mud Meat Zhang moved, the skin under Master Liu’s hands became younger, smoother, and exceptionally white.

“Ugh…” Even after experiencing such a bizarre thing, Master Liu simply groaned.

“Don’t move.” Mud Meat Zhang concentrated on his carving without raising his head.

“Is it really okay?” Master Liu swallowed and cried out in pain.

Mud Meat Zhang raised his wide butcher-like face, rolling his eyes, and revealing its whiteness. “If they don’t test your blood or check your bones, then you’ll be fine. If you want to make a fool of yourself, don’t blame me when the time comes.”

“I’m asking you about this look.” Master Liu glanced down. “I just want to escape, but I don’t want to become a woman in the future.”

“Calculate the time yourself. This effect will only last for three days.”

Mud Meat Zhang took out a bone knife and slowly flattened the folds of the skin. He didn’t even look at the bag around Master Liu’s neck, as all his thoughts were on this weird body in front of him.

“It’ll take a few hours to get back to your original state. At that time, your body will be deformed, and the process will be quite painful. Remember to find a place to hide after three days, so as not to be seen by others.”

Master Liu frowned and looked out the window at the sky.

When Mud Meat Zhang finished his work, he would be able to leave this place with the look of a teenage girl. Mud Meat Zhang was skillful. Master Liu made a contract with this smith because he promised that his craftsmanship wouldn’t be detected by Shian.

It was important to escape in a timely manner. Since Sunken Society had bitten and refused to release, Master Liu decided he needed to leave as soon as possible.

As for the core members of his gang… Within a month, even if they weren’t shot, “Good Boy” would help him silence them.

Thinking of this, Master Liu clenched the small cloth bag on his chest tightly. “How long will it be before you finish the transformation?”

“Finish? Do you think I’m really playing with mud? I have to work in the dark, and you won’t even allow one of my subordinates to help. Do you really want to see King Yama?”

After he said “King Yama”, Mud Meat Zhang was taken aback and grimaced*.

*Clarity: Double meaning. He’s basically saying: Are you in such a hurry to seek death/the King of Hell (because you’re rushing me), and when he said it, he realized that this also refers to the #1 Nightwalker (which Master Liu also tried to invite).

Zhong Chengshuo stood motionless against the outer wall. Under the moonlight, he was like a thin shadow. He stared at the pendant bag on Master Liu’s chest like a lurking predator, patiently stalking.

He didn’t have to wait long.

Gunshots and loud noises came from not far away. The heavy rain had resided to a light drizzle. On the second floor of the villa, the old man suddenly shouted, “Shian! Shian’s men are coming!”

Mud Meat Zhang’s movement didn’t stop. He kept carving while the other hand held a hair dryer that kept roaring nonstop. Master Liu clenched his fist as a thin bead of sweat glinted on his forehead.

“Hurry!”

“What’s the rush? It’s not a Black Seal who’s coming.” Mud Meat Zhang wiped the bone knife on his apron. “You paid for those two ghost masters, didn’t you? Aren’t you clear about how much they’re worth? Those two old things aren’t easy to deal with.”

“But the police are following Shian…”

“Shut up and change your face.”

Just as the sound of fighting sounded from downstairs, Mud Meat Zhang finished his last cut.

He took off his gloves with satisfaction and marveled at his work for a while, then lowered his brows.

“My business is settled. Remember to make the final payment.” Mud Meat Zhang hung the tool bag around his waist.

“You…” Master Liu opened his mouth, and a clear voice that belonged to a girl came out.

“I told you earlier, I won’t fight.” Mud Meat Zhang quickly put away his handbag as he responded roughly.

As soon as he left, there was a burst of blue light in the corridor. Master Liu didn’t know what strange spirit weapon he had used, but the two-hundred pound burly man seemed to evaporate, leaving no movement behind in the corridor.

The naked “Master Lieu” cursed, kicked his men’s clothes to the corner, and hurriedly put on a long skirt. At this moment…

The door to the bathroom slammed open, and a figure in protective clothing and a gas mask appeared at the entrance.

……

Both Li Xiaozhen and Li Xiaoli were specially assigned to Unit 6’s science post. They both graduated from B University with a Ph.D. in agronomy.

Ten minutes ago, the police were exchanging fire with the criminals in Villa 8. It was determined that Villa 8 didn’t need the support of the science posts, so the two began to track down the children who had run away.

They quickly found Ge Tingting, who was in a semi-coma.

After the two of them quickly treated her, the girl’s complexion improved. She started muttering nonsense in a hoarse voice and was desperately pointing to the area where Villa 18 was located—that was the exact direction that Feng Qi had run to.

However, the scope was still too general.

The twins checked several villas before locating Villa 18.

As soon as they stepped onto the first floor of the villa, the two felt cold air blast their faces. The sisters glanced at each other, put on a gas mask at the same time, took out a spray can in one hand, and clenched the nozzle with the other.

Li Xiaozhen: “Can you handle it?”

Li Xiaoli shivered with goosebumps under her protective clothing. “Yes.”

The sound of spraying sounded as the exorcism potion, specially prepared by a spirit smith, filled the room. The two operated skillfully, just as if they were spraying pesticides in a field. Not long after, there was a sharp scream on the second floor.

“Shian! Shian’s men are coming!”

“This reaction is from a Nightwalker, right?”

“It seems to be a Nightwalker.”

The two spoke at the same time and then smiled at each other. With a smile on their faces, the two sisters had already moved back vigilantly.

The bottles and cans in the backpacks of the two collided with each other. The potion raised an armor-like mist around them. While the cold feeling became stronger, it didn’t seem to affect the two.

There was a vague complaining sound in the parlor on the second floor.

Amid the smell of burning paper ashes, abandoned office appliances rattled and slammed at the two of them fiercely. At the same time, broken furniture rolled down from the corridor, blocking the entrance to the stairs as it twisted and turned.

The sisters didn’t panic at all. Li Xiaozhen laughed and continued to spray, while Li Xiaoli changed her posture and pulled out a big shovel for digging up trees from behind her.

“Let’s go!”

They sprayed the exorcism spray as if they were swinging a bat. As the spray touched the flying objects, they fell to the ground one after another.

Li Xiaoli turned her shovel and glanced at the pile of furniture blocking the way. She found the fulcrum and used all her strength to pry it away.

With a rumble, the furniture was pried off and fell to the side.

The two girls dexterously climbed over the mess and went straight to the parlor. The old man and woman in the hall were still frantically burning talismans as they tried to command their ghosts. Before they could react, an anesthetic can rolled to the center of the room.

It clicked and quickly spewed out paralyzing gas.

The two old people cursed and slumped to the ground.

“Their strengths are medium, close to high.” After entering the parlor, Li Xiaozhen played with the spray can. “Looking at this configuration, they should be guarding something.”

“Hm, like the bathroom.” Li Xiaoli knocked her shovel on the ground. “I heard the sound of a hair dryer.”

Without delay, the two went straight to the bathroom. The door of the small room was tightly closed. Li Xiaoli gripped her shovel tightly and kicked the door open with a bang.

However, what greeted them was a girl with short hair.

The girl was wearing a suspender skirt that didn’t fit well. She was tall and looked to be about 17 or 18 years old. She huddled beside a pair of crumpled clothes and looked at them in fear.

The ground was wet, and there was an indescribably strange smell in the air.

“Are you—are you the police?” The girl asked. “I’ll cooperate, fully. Please don’t harm me!”

Li Xiaoli blinked and kept her distance vigilantly. “Who are you?”

“I’m Liu Aigo’s daughter.” The girl’s way of speaking was weird and awkward. “Dad asked me to wait here, but he never came.”

She looked at the two of them pitifully and moved her body slightly.

“Stop. Just stay there and don’t move.” Li Xiaoli gestured with her shovel. Li Xaozhen took out her phone and prepared to call the police…

On top of her phone was a display showing [Suspected curse influence—signal interrupted].

…It was obviously normal just now.

The moment she saw this, Li Xiaozhen lunged at Li Xiaoli. The latter stumbled back and only heard the muffled sound as a bullet grazed her cheek.

The girl pulled out a gun from the pile of clothes and fired at the two of them mercilessly.

Li Xiaozhen turned around and shielded Li Xiaoli firmly behind her. The bullet pierced through her protective clothing and hit her bulletproof vest. A few of them grazed her arms and thighs, causing blood to immediately gush out.

Li Xiaoli grabbed her lapel, quickly avoided the bathroom door, and took out a bright red spray can.

Ignoring the dense warning on the jar, she tore open the seal and threw it towards the room…

High-intensity anesthetic explosives could incapacitate a person for 24 hours. Unlike the hissing anesthetic canister before, this one exploded the instant it landed.

The “girl” Master Liu sneered. He held his breath and rushed to the window, skillfully trying to jump off the second floor.

However, the small window was tightly closed.

It was a simple setting, and all he needed to do was open it from the inside, but the window felt as if it was welded down from the outside. No matter how hard Master Liu pushed and hit, the window didn’t budge.

Master Liu’s scalp exploded. He tried to use the gun to break the glass, but the high concentration of anesthetic drugs had wrapped around him, weakening his movements. He was slowly getting feebler, and the smile on his face gradually became desperate.

In his blurred vision, half a human head poked out from the window.

In the blurry night, the man’s face was hidden in the shadow of his hood, which made his black and white eyes particularly conspicuous. Those eyes stared calmly at him as their black hole-like pupils slowly moved down, watching him slide to the ground.

Master Liu continued pounding on the glass unwillingly, and in the end his hand weakly slid down. The gun fell to the floor with a click.

“Done!” Li Xiaoli breathed a sigh of relief. She cautiously stepped into the bathroom and opened the cloth back on the “girl’s” neck.

“The cursed object suspected of being ‘Good Boy’ has been confirmed.” Li Xiaoli was wearing gloves full of runes as she carefully grabbed the piece of jade. Under the faint light, the surface of the jade dolphin was glowing with a cold luster.

Li Xiaoli looked at it in disgust. “Help me prepare the storage box, Xiaozhen… Xiaozhen?”

Her sister didn’t answer.

On the edge of the gas mask’s field of vision, Li Xiaozhen’s arm, wrapped in protective clothing, lay across the ground at the door. Li Xiaoli’s back was instantly drenched in cold sweat.

She turned her gaze away for a moment.

The chilling sensation, surrounded by fierce ghosts, struck thousands of times stronger than before. Li Xiaoli opened her mouth, and a burst of white steam floated out from the breathing port of the gas mask.

It’s so cold.

She made a quick decision and held the jade dolphin firmly in her hand.

This time she didn’t bother to pay attention to the enemy but sat down in front of her unconscious sister. Li Xiaoli quickly pulled out various bottles and jars. Layers and layers of aerosol were sprayed onto the protective suit before they created a gelatinous texture.

Finally, Li Xiaoli curled up and tightly protected her sister and her head. The jade dolphin was firmly held in her hand as she pressed it against her chest.

The ghost master this time was distinct from the other two Nightwalkers. He was a real master. Somehow, Li Xiaozhen’s gunshot wounds were filled with nails and she had fainted due to blood loss.

Li Xiaoli knew this technique. It belonged to Kong Wanqing from Sunken Society.

Sure enough, the next moment, countless nails broke through the air and plunged straight into her body. They cracked the reinforced protective clothing and tried to smash Li Xiaoli’s mask.

Li Xiaoli remained motionless as she tried to protect her sister by curling her body tighter.

She had to hold on.

Their signal had disappeared for eight minutes. As long as there was no contact after ten minutes, Shian’s system would automatically sound the alarm. The surrounding support would definitely come then…

The problem was that the attacker also knew this. Before support arrived, the ghost master would use all means to attack her.

Now her only armor was her belief in being a science post.

She must not waver, must not fear, and must not deny herself before all this danger and strangeness. Once she was shaken, not only would it be the nails, but the curse of the ghosts would come crashing down on her head.

Under wave after wave of attacks, Li Xiaoli bit her lips tightly. She didn’t know if the mask had cracked and the powerful anesthetic was slowly seeping in, but she was gradually losing her consciousness.

Until she was unconscious, she still maintained her protective posture.

The ghost in the room seemed to be aware of her powerlessness. The nails formed a hand out of thin air and went to pick up the “Good Boy” in her hand…

Clink.

They suddenly collapsed on the ground. The nails rolled away along the wooden floor, leaving clattering sounds behind.

Outside the community, Kong Wanqing, the ghost master, cursed angrily.

The two Nightwalkers were immobilized by Shian, Master Liu was unconscious, and Shian’s “spray sisters” were also attacked by him. “Good Boy” was at his fingertips. This matter should have been settled as the mantis hunts the cicada while the oriole stalks behind*.

*Proverb describing people who pursue immediate gains while neglecting the greater danger behind. || In this context, the “spray sisters” are the mantis while he was the oriole stalking them.

However, in an instant, his internal organs jerked, and the pain of his ghost breaking their contract felt like frostbite.

…For some reason, his ghosts had suddenly broken off contact.

Villa 18, second floor.

Zhong Chengshuo was already indoors. His dark pupils scanned the area. The bathroom and corridor were empty.

As always, his vision and the surrounding temperature hadn’t changed, and he still couldn’t perceive any ghosts. It was still raining, which made the air hot and muggy, smothering his skin with a layer of sweat.

Except for the countless iron nails floating in the air, everything was normal.

Zhong Chengshuo spun the “Evil Fruit” in his hand a few times and quietly watched the nails fly.

One of the ghosts was annihilated, but the ghost master from Sunken Society didn’t give up. The nails began to brew up a storm on the second floor, indiscriminately attacking everything.

Ghost masters are always like this. Zhong Chengshuo shook his head regretfully.

A little blurred light penetrated through the window. The nails reflected the shimmering light as if they were schools of fish passing through the ocean. Porcelain tiles and glass mixed into fangs and started biting non-stop. The doors and windows crazily slammed open and shut, creating a buzz in one’s brain.

Zhong Chengshuo walked to the eye of the storm, moving playfully.

Tap, tap, tap.

It was like he was dancing. The nails scratched his sleeves, and tiles stuck to his head, but they didn’t hurt him at all.

It didn’t matter if he couldn’t see the ghost or felt the cold in this battle.

Zhong Chengshuo turned his body neatly, and his eyes swept over the murderous aura. Their faint light was like shooting stars, passing through those dim eyes of his from time to time.

He observed with unparalleled concentration.

Whether it was magnetic force, inertia, or evil qi that were making these objects fly, as long as they revealed their trajectory, he could calculate the “source of the interference”.

The ghosts attacked indiscriminately for a while, but they didn’t touch their target. Under the increasing murderous intent, the corridor on the second floor seemed like it was going crazy. The floor tilted in the air, and the toilet and faucet spewed brownish-red sewage, which quickly formed into ice on the floor.

Zhong Chengshuo stopped. The “Evil Fruit” circled in his hand, spinning out a dark red light.

For a moment, he suddenly raised his hand and slashed toward a place in the air with his short knife.

Sharp glass fragments stopped in front of him, then they suddenly lost power and fell to the floor.

Zhong Chengshuo turned around and moved his fingers slightly. The short knife was connected to a chain. It narrowly passed the unconscious twin sisters and shot to the door of the bathroom.

The violent sound of the doors and windows abruptly stopped, and the floor froze helplessly in place.

Zhong Chengshuo sharply retracted the thin chain, and the Evil Fruit fell back to his hand obediently, stabbing a picture frame along the way.

The ceiling, stairs, and the end of the corridor…

The red light of the Evil Fruit swept across the dark corners, putting an end to all abnormalities as if it were bringing “daily life” back into the eyes of the public. The iron nails and tiles piled all over the floor as the surrounding area became so quiet that one could hear the drop of a pin.

The battle seemed to be over. There were noises coming from around Villa 18. Reinforcements from Shian and the police were getting closer.

“There’s still one left,” Zhong Chengshuo murmured, calculating the possible hiding places of the other party.

According to his deduction, there were ten sources of interference just now, but according to the “curse feedback” of the Evil Fruit, he only eliminated nine targets.

There was no basic sympathy for his own kind, no instinctive fear of the unknown, and not the slightest doubt or wavering of his mind.

In the face of this almost horrible “fearlessness”, even if it was a curse with extremely powerful evil effects, it could at most feel like a weak shock—it was defeated by this person’s mental strength, and there was nothing it could do.

The “limited one-for-one” had become more like a “vibration of a controller”. If the Evil Fruit possessed a mind, it would most likely explode out of anger.

At this moment, it was being carried by Zhong Chengshuo, who gave the final blow to the toilet.

With the annihilation of the last ghost, Zhong Chengshuo’s hand perfunctorily shook.

Not far away, Kong Wanqing vomited a mouthful of black blood. The retreat spell in his hand was blown to pieces before he could finish, and his ten elite ghosts were all wiped out.

Blood was seeping out of all of Kong Wanqing’s orifices. He let out a beast-like whimper and smashed the binoculars against the wall…

The police and Shian had already noticed the target, and without the help of his ghosts, he was powerless.

The windows of Villa 18 were pitch black, like a bottomless abyss. His ghosts had melted like snow, and they didn’t have time to bring back anything, whether it was information or spoils.

He couldn’t figure it out. Could it be that Villa 18 actually had another mystery? What powerful exorcism prop did he trigger?

At the same time, the “extremely powerful exorcism prop” was pulling “Good Boy” out of Li Xiaoli’s hands.

Zhong Chengshuo put away the Evil Fruit and switched back to an ordinary knife. He cut off a very thin piece at the bottom of the jade dolphin.

He packed it in a bag full of runes and put it in his chest pocket. After this was done, Zhong Chengshuo put the jade dolphin back into Li Xiaoli’s hands and restored her to her original posture.

As soon as he escaped out the window, Shian and the police arrived at the scene.

Zhong Chengshuo sneaked into the bushes quietly. Flames spontaneously ignited, gently lighting a corner of his clothes. In the deepest part of the shadows among the trees, a dim flame appeared on his black hoodie. The flame swept across his skin and hair, turning the black hoodie into green smoke and leaving nothing behind, not even ashes.

The hoodie was burned, revealing Zhong Chengshuo in only an ordinary long-sleeved shirt.

He retrieved a bag from the bushes, put on his glasses again, and stuffed the Evil Fruit into the bottom of the bag. The night’s rain had drenched his hair. Zhong Chengshuo shook his head and then sneezed.

It took him only ten seconds to regain his harmless appearance.

Zhong Chengshuo lowered his head and glanced at his watch.

23:28. Exactly as planned.

……

At this moment, Yin Ren hugged the weak Feng Qi tightly and flew straight into the sky.

Ping’an Manor shrank rapidly under the two of them. When they passed through the rain curtain and the clouds, a brilliant starry sky appeared above their heads. At this moment, dark clouds were rolling under the feet of the two of them. The sky was full of stars in their vision, and the surroundings were extremely quiet, as if they had truly entered another world.

At this height, even if the boy blew up into a fleshy firework, the evil qi wouldn’t contaminate others.

Due to the high altitude and low temperature, Feng Qi, who was drenched in the rain, was shivering violently. His whole body was scalding hot. He still had a sliver of sanity as he stared at the sky full of stars without blinking.

“Why… take me away?” He hugged the silent Ibby tightly, struggling to say his words. “Black market… dragon scale…”

“The dragon scale is fake.”

Yin Ren thought about it for a while and decided to tell the truth.

“You have been deceived. That kind of scumbag isn’t capable of taking my things.”

It wasn’t like a certain bold roommate who really took away some of his broken hair.

Honestly now, Yin Ren was in a special situation. Most of his power was used to suppress the power of his evil qi. The remaining “petty evil qi” was really not much, so he had to use it tightly.

In the past, he wouldn’t have noticed the slightest “loss”.

Feng Qi looked at him blankly. “But Ibby… won’t lie to me…”

Yin Ren glanced at the emptiness in the boy’s arms.

“Ibby will not deceive you, but it may also be deceived.” Yin Ren didn’t expose the truth, but played along. “You have come into contact with people you shouldn’t have, right?”

The boy lowered his head. “But…”

He still couldn’t understand the conspiracies and deceptions.

“Don’t worry, I won’t lie to you.” As if seeing through his confusion, Yin Ren patted the boy on the back. “Come on, look at my strength—you’re too weak now and I have nothing to gain by lying to you.”

“Sin value 139,478…” the boy replied drowsily. “You’ve killed… so many people…”

About 140,000? That was a similar number in his memory.

Yin Ren retracted his hand and scratched his nose. “What about ‘Death’?”

“Too—too far. I can’t see…”

The boy grasped Yin Ren’s neck and opened his broken eyes wide. As if he realized something, he shook like a dead leaf in the wind.

“Lord Dragon of Destruction,” he choked. “Can you… give me a scale?”

“What are you thinking? If you touch this kind of thing again, you’ll surely die.”

“It doesn’t matter if I die.”

“Kid, I was going to save you. Now you’re making things awkward.”

Feng Qi was stubborn. He grabbed Yin Ren’s collar tightly, dyeing his neckline red with blood and tears.

“I have to clear the game. I have a wish that must be fulfilled. Please…”

Yin Ren was silent for a few seconds.

“Is it because of this?” he asked softly.

Yin Ren took out the source of corruption that was soaked in evil qi—it was a cheap, plain-looking keychain with a small photo clipped in the transparent acrylic plate.

In the photo, a boy was hugging his parents and smiling happily.

There was a very conspicuous crack on it that was covered with old blood and brain matter that had solidified, exuding a faint odor.

In Yin Ren’s invisible world, Ibby opened its eyes.

The young dragon struggled to get close to the keychain and licked it very lightly and cherishingly.

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The author has something to say:

Come on—!

Xiao Zhong: As long as real objects move, it must follow Newton’s laws, okay?

Xiao Yin: (Flying high over people’s heads)

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