Chapter 38

Chapter 38

Xie Qingling looked at the two women for a long time before finally sighing. “Come inside first.”

Dong Jia and Jiang Lulu nodded, then entered the first-floor office hall together.

Dai Xingyu poured them some water, sat down nearby, and asked, “Are you here to sign the confidentiality agreements?”

Jiang Lulu shook her head. “We’re here to have our memories erased.”

What?

Dai Xingyu froze. After thinking about it, he began to wonder whether he had somehow messed things up.

But the Director had clearly said yesterday that they only needed to sign confidentiality agreements!

Dai Xingyu looked helplessly at Xie Qingling, trying to convey both his innocence and how hard he had tried.

He had already written the self-criticism. How had things still turned out this way?

The Director was being far too unreasonable!

“They made the decision themselves,” Xie Qingling said. “I’ll ask the Director what procedure we need to follow for memory erasure.”

She activated her earpiece, and Ling Fang’s voice came through.

After hearing Xie Qingling’s account, Ling Fang said, “Actually, this is the safest choice for them. Generally speaking, when ordinary people without special abilities to protect themselves encounter a supernatural incident, erasing their memories is the safest measure we can take. But they’re your close friends, and you understand them better than we do. Since you insisted, I agreed to your request.”

“The more someone comes into contact with and learns about the supernatural world, the more attention and disturbance they attract. For example, once they know that unusual beings exist, they may look at one a moment too long in a crowd. Even if they harbor no hostility, that can draw the being’s attention or even provoke it into attacking, bringing disaster down on them for no reason.”

“If they want to escape those things’ notice and reduce the chance of another supernatural incident to the absolute minimum, the best approach is not to learn about them or come into contact with them. Once this part of their memories has been erased, their lives should return to normal very soon.”

Xie Qingling fell silent for a while. “I understand.”

“I’ll have Ye Anran return in a little while. Light some benzoin incense for them first.”

“Understood.”

After ending the call, Xie Qingling said to Dong Jia and Jiang Lulu, “All right. You only need to wait a little while.”

Xie Qingling took Dong Jia and Jiang Lulu to Room 206 and had them lie down.

Then she brought out the benzoin incense.

Once it was lit, a warm medicinal fragrance lingered in their noses, soothing them into drowsiness and relaxing their bodies into profound comfort.

Jiang Lulu and Dong Jia were already on the verge of sleep.

After thinking for a moment, Xie Qingling asked, “Before your memories are erased, is there anything you want to say to me? After all… we may never have another conversation like this.”

Jiang Lulu took out her phone and opened a screen. “Jiajia and I both set your contact to speed dial and pinned it at the top. If we’re unlucky enough to keep running into things like this, we’ll still come to you. Aren’t we clever?”

Xie Qingling: “…”

That was clever. Genuinely clever.

She looked at Jiang Lulu, torn between laughter and tears, and said softly, “All right, then. Go to sleep. Sweet dreams.”

Dong Jia and Jiang Lulu had already fallen into dreams.

The rest was Ye Anran’s work.

* * *

At around two in the afternoon, Ye Anran finished the hypnosis.

Dong Jia and Jiang Lulu had already been sent back to their respective destinations. One returned to the hospital to continue her stay, while the other returned to the university and lay down in her dorm room.

Watching her two friends leave filled Xie Qingling with complicated emotions.

Dai Xingyu noticed. He walked over and quietly asked, “Does it bother you that much that their memories were erased? Then why didn’t you try harder to persuade them just now?”

“Do you have any ordinary friends? The kind without special abilities who still spend time with you regularly?” Instead of answering, Xie Qingling asked him a question.
Dai Xingyu thought for a moment. “After I awakened, I was sent to the Department for training. It’s already been five years. Work keeps us so busy. When would I have time to make friends?”

“It seems I’m the only one who still maintains ties with people in the mortal realm. But putting them in danger just because I want to preserve those connections would be wrong.” Xie Qingling smiled. “I used to think my job was simply a little unusual and that I could remain the same as before, surrounded by my friends. But now I realize they live in the light while I stand on the other side. Perhaps we’ll still run into each other on the street someday, but they’ll never know why I appeared there.”

Dai Xingyu said, “Don’t put it like that. You’re making yourself sound like some dark villain…”

Xie Qingling burst out laughing.

After a pause, Xie Qingling suddenly remembered something and looked at Dai Xingyu. “You’ve actually been working for five years? I never would have guessed. You’re twenty-one now, which means you were only sixteen five years ago. You were still a minor. Does the Department employ child labor? Is that legal?”

“Special circumstances call for special measures. The Department is so short-staffed that we’d gladly take a dog and use it as a person. What’s wrong with child labor?”

“So show me some respect. I’m your Senior – a very experienced Senior. Apart from Old Yu, I have the most seniority in the entire Department,” Dai Xingyu said.

Xie Qingling was startled. “You’ve even been here longer than the Director?”

If Ling Fang lacked seniority, how had he become Director? He did not appear especially powerful either.

Had he pulled strings? Xie Qingling’s thoughts began to wander. But that did not seem right. Ling Fang was highly capable as a manager. Besides, this did not look like the kind of place where connections could earn someone a position. People died here.

“Of course I’ve been here longer. The Director was only transferred here three years ago. When I first joined the Department for training, the Director of Future City’s Special Incident Response Department wasn’t the current Director. It was someone else.”

Xie Qingling asked, “What happened to the former Director? Was he promoted and transferred elsewhere?”

Dai Xingyu’s expression shifted. He paused for several seconds, then said quietly, “No.”

“The old Director died.”

Xie Qingling’s body stiffened.

Ye Anran was stretching as she came downstairs from the second floor. Hearing Dai Xingyu’s words, she sent a silver needle flying with a snap, making him yelp in pain.

Ye Anran said, “Why are you frightening her for no reason? Are you asking for a beating?”

“Sister Anran, why did you hit me again? I was only telling the truth!”

“Hurry up and shut your mouth! Otherwise, I’ll have the Director increase your self-criticism to twenty thousand words.”

“I know, I know.”

Xie Qingling glanced at them but did not press for details. She returned to writing her self-criticism.

The next day, Ling Fang assigned Xie Qingling a new task.

He handed Xie Qingling a thick stack of case files. They contained reports of strange phenomena and unusual police complaints compiled by public officials who liaised with the special Department.

Ling Fang said, “There have been repeated reports and complaints from the public about this street over the past month. According to the files, people often become lost there, have their wallets stolen, or get struck by objects falling from nowhere. One drunk wandered in and got lost, then was stripped naked and left by the roadside, yet suffered no other harm. There are countless incidents like these, but whenever police are dispatched, their investigation turns up nothing.”

The street Ling Fang described lay at the boundary between the Old District and the New District.

Before Future City’s urban redevelopment, the street had been on the outskirts of the suburbs. Even after the redevelopment, it was still considered suburban.

Compared with the Old District, this street received even less foot traffic and looked almost abandoned.

Still, people did live there.

For minor incidents to occur so frequently in a place with so few people was indeed unusual.

Xie Qingling asked Ling Fang, “Is this a marked region? It doesn’t look like a hotspot for supernatural incidents.”

“Neither. It isn’t either one.”
The fact that it was neither was precisely what made it strange.

None of the incidents had caused serious harm, but leaving them unchecked indefinitely would still be troublesome.

Ling Fang said, “That’s why I plan to send you over to find out what’s going on. Come back and write me a summary report.”

“Understood.”

Xie Qingling took the files and began reading through them.

The earliest police report had been filed one month and twenty days ago by someone claiming that their wallet had been stolen on that street.

However, the report was quickly withdrawn.

Two days later, the person who filed it said they had found the wallet again. It had probably been left at home and forgotten.

Then came the second incident. Someone reported becoming lost there for two days, unable to find a way out no matter where they went. After finally escaping, the person also filed a complaint against the Urban Development Bureau and bitterly condemned the city’s irrational planning.

The third incident…

Xie Qingling carefully finished reading every file. The more she read, the stranger the street seemed.

The reports grew increasingly frequent over time. Yet after reaching a peak of supernatural activity, the incidents gradually declined.

That did not mean fewer supernatural incidents were occurring. Rather, the street had become so infamous that word spread from person to person until no one dared visit, leaving fewer people to experience anything there.

In the afternoon, after organizing the files, Xie Qingling mounted her motorcycle and set out for the old street.

The distance was relatively great, and it took her about half an hour to reach the desolate street.

Low buildings lined both sides, all of them visibly old.

The exposed walls were badly mottled. Their peeling paint had long since lost its original brightness, leaving everything gray and steeped in age.

Xie Qingling could not tell what the area had once been used for. Judging by the scale of the buildings, it seemed to have enjoyed a period of prosperity at some point.

After looking around for a while, Xie Qingling walked the entire street from one end to the other.

Nothing happened.

The voice in her mind did not sound either.

Xie Qingling was in no hurry.

After reviewing the files, she had noticed that most of the complainants experienced the supernatural incidents around dusk or at night.

If something strange truly inhabited this street, then the ghosts or monsters here could probably emerge only after dusk.

Xie Qingling planned to wait until nightfall.

As a precaution, she had brought the silver combat case on this patrol. It contained all the equipment she might need.

But waiting was one thing. Going hungry was entirely unacceptable.

Xie Qingling found a noodle shop along the street that was still open and ordered a bowl to fill her stomach.

As she slurped her noodles, Xie Qingling began chatting with the shop owner. “Ma’am, what was this street used for in the past?”

The owner appeared to be an old woman past fifty. She said, “This street was never used for much. I was born and raised here. It’s looked like this since I was little and has never had many people.”

“A while ago, a group of livestreamers came out of nowhere to explore local shops. They all rushed over to broadcast, then left again. Now even fewer people come. They said this place was haunted… Haunted by what? What a joke. This granny has lived here for sixty years. If there really were ghosts, I would’ve seen one long ago.” The old woman burst into laughter.

Xie Qingling nodded. “I thought this place might have been prosperous once.”

“It was prosperous for a while, probably back in my grandmother’s generation.” The old woman’s voice abruptly turned wistful. “My grandmother said there used to be a temple on this street. Back then, people often came to burn incense. Crowds were always coming and going, and the place was bustling. But later, the temple disappeared, and so did the people.”

Xie Qingling immediately asked, “What kind of temple?”

“How would I know? The temple was already gone by the time this granny was born.” The old woman began urging her to leave. “Are you finished eating yet? It’ll be dark soon. I need to close the shop and rest.”