Chapter 15
Chapter 15
Xie Qingling couldn’t tell whether the world had always contained so many invisible supernatural creatures, or whether entering their world had increased her chances of encountering them. One thing was certain: this Mantis Spirit was a problem she had to solve.
[The Mantis Spirit lying dormant in the low grass opens its eyes wide and looks at you. Starving, it endures the hunger in its belly and resolves to challenge you to a duel that will decide its fate.]
A duel?
Xie Qingling frowned. This felt slightly troublesome.
But if that was the case, this was the perfect opportunity to test her Soul Recall.
Xie Qingling took out the Ksitigarbha Statue she had just received. She hadn’t expected to use it so soon.
She murmured, “With your eyes, see what I see.”
The Killing Field spread open in an instant.
The Mantis Spirit and Xie Qingling were both trapped inside.
At the same time, Xie Qingling saw the Mantis Spirit in full.
It was a palm-sized mantis crouched atop the flower bed.
Its lower body still looked like a mantis, while its upper half was more human, resembling a person wearing enormous mantis-sickle gloves over their hands.
How were they supposed to duel?
Start fighting immediately?
Xie Qingling instinctively tightened her grip on the gun.
Before she could move, however, the voice in her mind sounded.
[The Mantis Spirit challenges you to a game of rock-paper-scissors. If you lose, you will become its meal.]
[Faced with the rule-bound challenge the Mantis Spirit can issue only once in its lifetime, you have no way to retreat.]
“…???”
Rock-paper-scissors? Seriously?
Xie Qingling froze. After confirming she hadn’t misheard, she swept her gaze over the Mantis Spirit and almost burst out laughing.
“All right,” Xie Qingling said. “We can start.” She might as well play along.
The Mantis Spirit began to move too.
“Rock, paper, scissors.”
Without question, Xie Qingling won.
Because the Mantis Spirit could – and could only – throw scissors.
It was a rule-type spirit monster. A rather silly one.
While Xie Qingling wondered what to do with it after its defeat, the Mantis Spirit covered its exceptionally anguished face and vanished.
[The Mantis Spirit, which has never won a game of rock-paper-scissors, vanishes once more into its own Grain in Ear. It can only wait until the next Grain in Ear to awaken briefly again. In agony, the Mantis Spirit cries out: Humans, ah, humans! Why are you born with five fingers, able to make every sign in rock-paper-scissors? It hates you so much.]
At the same time, black writing gradually appeared in a previously blank section of the Book of Observation, one character after another revealing information about the Mantis Spirit:
One of the spirit monsters that emerges during the Twenty-Four Solar Terms. Fond of challenging humans to rock-paper-scissors. Throws only scissors. Flees after defeat.
Xie Qingling: “…”
She hadn’t remained at her post until the final moment today, but the Book of Observation had been updated. Xie Qingling decided that counted as a job well done on her first day.
After the Mantis Spirit disappeared, Xie Qingling withdrew the Killing Field and continued toward the dormitory as though nothing had happened.
The moment Jiang Lulu and Dong Jia saw her in the dorm, they rushed over and examined her closely. Only after confirming that she still had all four limbs did they relax.
Jiang Lulu said, “Hey, you didn’t come back last night. We were so scared we couldn’t sleep. We thought you’d run into something weird again.”
Ever since the Shanxiao, Jiang Lulu and Dong Jia had practically developed PTSD.
“I’m fine.” Xie Qingling shook her head. After some thought, she decided she should live at the office from now on.
Her identity and work were both unusual now. Remembering what had happened at the University Student Activity Center, Xie Qingling was constantly afraid she might drag them into another vortex of danger.
It was too dangerous.
“By the way, I got an offer, so I’m moving out tomorrow. I probably won’t come back to the dorm often. You two need to take good care of yourselves. If… I mean, if you encounter anything strange, remember to contact me,” Xie Qingling said.
Dong Jia froze when she heard this. She seemed about to say something, but ultimately nodded.
She always felt as though she had forgotten something, but couldn’t remember what.
Still, Xie Qingling had always been good at taking care of herself. They probably didn’t need to worry about her.
Jiang Lulu’s reaction was much stronger. She immediately shrieked, “What? We all submitted applications from the same dorm. When did you get an offer?!”
Why was her own internship still unsettled? Why was she the only one who hadn’t found a job?!
Xie Qingling laughed awkwardly, made up a casual excuse, and said nothing more. After all, she had signed a nondisclosure agreement.
Jiang Lulu, meanwhile, developed an unprecedented sense of crisis. She even began considering the law firm internship that paid only eighteen hundred and required her to slave away for a full year before becoming permanent.
The next day, Xie Qingling went to the forensic medicine building to see her academic adviser.
Inside her bag was the internship certificate Ye Anran had issued for her at short notice the day before.
Besides saying goodbye to her roommates, Xie Qingling had returned to school to explain her future plans to her adviser.
Most of her classmates had already found jobs and submitted their internship certificates. Because Xie Qingling had been ill and made no progress, her adviser had been pressing her hard.
Today, it was time to give her anxious adviser an explanation.
Xie Qingling’s adviser, Professor Zhou, was a gray-haired old man on the verge of retirement.
When he saw the internship certificate Xie Qingling placed on his desk, Professor Zhou looked at her, then at the certificate again, checking it repeatedly.
After carefully examining the words on the page yet again, Professor Zhou heaved a sigh. When he looked back into Xie Qingling’s eyes, his gaze was piercing.
Thoroughly displeased, he demanded, “Explain.”
Professor Zhou was extremely strict. He docked attendance points without mercy, leaving his students full of complaints.
Yet the stern Professor Zhou liked Xie Qingling because she always met his exacting standards perfectly, something extraordinarily rare across his entire teaching career.
During their first anatomy class, over thirty students had been present. Even the burliest men vomited until they couldn’t continue. Only Xie Qingling remained perfectly composed and completed the task with distinction.
Her temperament and abilities seemed tailor-made for forensic medicine.
Professor Zhou held great expectations for Xie Qingling.
He had never imagined that she would hand him an internship certificate so…
Completely unrelated to her major.
The Special Incident Response Department? A Recorder? He had never even heard of the organization or the position. It looked like some fly-by-night outfit offering a meaningless clerical job where she would idle her life away.
No matter how Professor Zhou considered it, he couldn’t understand why Xie Qingling had made such a choice.
Under Professor Zhou’s disappointed gaze, Xie Qingling braced herself and said, “Professor, this is my internship organization and certificate. I’ve already started working. I have to return to the office tomorrow.”
“You – ” Professor Zhou shot to his feet and slammed the desk. “What a foolish mistake!”
“Your grades in your major are excellent. Do you know how many relevant government agencies would fight to recruit you? Even a forensic identification agency would be better! Why join some department no one’s ever heard of? What’s so good about it? Are they threatening you?”
Professor Zhou abruptly paused as realization struck. “Did someone trick you into a pyramid scheme? Tell me. I’ll solve it for you. Leave that strange organization this instant!”
Professor Zhou was forceful and furious, yet warmth filled Xie Qingling’s heart.
How fortunate she was to have met such warm people all her life.
But…
“I’m sorry, Professor.” Xie Qingling lowered her head and said softly, “No one deceived me. This was my own choice. I’ve made my decision, and I won’t leave this department.”
“You – ” Professor Zhou was so angry he nearly suffered a heart attack.
Furious beyond measure, he gritted out, “Let the dead speak, redress their wrongs, and reveal the truth to the world. Have you forgotten your own words? How can you face the four years of hard work you put in?”
Xie Qingling smiled bitterly but refused to yield an inch. “My conscience is clear, and I have not betrayed myself. Other people besides me can become excellent forensic pathologists. But this department cannot do without me.”
…She had lost her mind!
Professor Zhou trembled with anger and said through clenched teeth, “Get out!”
Xie Qingling gave him a proper bow. “I may never become an excellent forensic pathologist, but I will never forget what you taught me.”
Then she left the faculty office.
It was impossible not to regret or grieve abandoning the field she had studied for four years. But how could Xie Qingling withdraw now?
Once the bow was drawn, there was no turning back. As an Innate Spirit, remaining in that world was her destiny.
Xie Qingling heaved a deep sigh and walked with exceptionally slow steps.
[Search. Wander. Carrion Ghosts that have lain dormant here for untold days. Ghosts that have wandered the mortal realm for a long time do not fear the sun. Answering the mortal realm’s summons, they impatiently open their eyes.]
[Such hunger. Such agony. Bellies unfed for so long cry out against the abuse they have suffered. Go and eat. Go and plunder. After all, so many delicious dishes await you here.]
Xie Qingling instantly went rigid.
How was this…
Happening again?
This time, it wasn’t a minor monster like the Mantis Spirit.
Her expression cold, Xie Qingling followed the procedures Ye Anran had given her and swiftly tapped her earpiece.
The direct communicator quickly connected to Ling Fang.
Ling Fang’s voice came through. “What is it?”
“Director,” Xie Qingling said. “There are Carrion Ghosts in my school’s forensic medicine building. Their number is unknown. My initial observation indicates they intend to eat people.”
Ling Fang quickly replied, “Find a way to draw everyone out, then deploy the Killing Field. I’ll send people to support you immediately.”
After a pause, Ling Fang added, “You still lack experience. Unless absolutely necessary, don’t engage them alone. Protect yourself until we arrive.”
“Understood.”
Xie Qingling ended the call.
Classes were in session. Anatomy courses were being held inside the building, with no shortage of students and professors present.
Drawing all of them out would be difficult.
But not impossible.