Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Xie Qingling’s instincts told her that if she let the situation continue unchecked, she might die.
For the sake of staying alive, she made a decision that seemed almost rash.
Xie Qingling accepted the online stranger’s request to meet.
Her instincts said that “Codename Zero” might know far more than she imagined.
But for her own safety, Xie Qingling insisted on choosing the time and place.
The other person had no objections.
—
Sunday, at the most popular café near the university.
It was a couples’ café, and on weekends when classes were scarce, the place was packed with young couples from the university meeting for dates. If the stranger had ulterior motives, being surrounded by people would buy Xie Qingling more time to react and give her more ways to save herself.
Business was booming. By the time Xie Qingling arrived, only a few seats remained empty.
She swept her gaze across the café, trying to pick “Codename Zero” out of the crowd.
But after looking around, she saw nothing but couples sitting in pairs.
Had “Codename Zero” not come alone?
Xie Qingling took out her phone and was about to message “Codename Zero” to ask when a man’s voice suddenly spoke behind her.
“Xie Qingling. Female, twenty-two years old. Found as an infant beside a road by the director of Changhong Orphanage and raised there from childhood. Displayed greater maturity than her peers from an early age and excelled academically after starting school. Four years ago, she placed first overall in Changhong City on the national university entrance examination and enrolled in the forensic medicine program at the University of Science and Technology.”
The low voice paused, then continued. “Single. No harmful habits or problematic social connections. A relatively simple background. Her greatest wish is to earn money after graduation and install air conditioners in every classroom at the orphanage.”
Xie Qingling’s spine went rigid. She turned toward the voice and found a man in a black suit seated in a booth behind her to the right.
His hair was somewhat long, covering his ears. Behind one ear, the blue indicator on a Bluetooth earpiece flashed in and out of view. Despite the sweltering weather, he wore black leather gloves.
When Xie Qingling looked at him, a polite, courteous smile appeared on the man’s face.
He watched her, the smiling corners of his eyes looking gentle.
But laying out Xie Qingling’s entire background at their first meeting did nothing to lower her guard.
She walked over with a dark expression. “You’re ‘Codename Zero’ from the internet? You’ve been investigating me?”
“My name is Ling Fang,” he said. “Please understand that investigating you is standard procedure for us. You are an Awakened capable of seeing ‘them.’ We have a duty to confirm that you are not an aggressive and dangerous antisocial personality.”
Beneath his warm smile was a cold appraisal. To Xie Qingling’s surprise, he seemed just as wary of her.
Her heart sank. She opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
“Who…” It took Xie Qingling a long moment to find her voice. “Who are you?”
“Or rather, what organization do you represent?”
No individual could uncover her entire past in such a short time, nor would one person have the authority to investigate her in such detail. They had even discovered her wish to install air conditioners at the orphanage. Their authority and the resources at their command could not be underestimated. And the more careful and thorough their investigation, the clearer it became that what she had stumbled into was no small matter.
Xie Qingling sensed keenly that, whether she wanted it or not, on this ordinary city afternoon, a long-sealed door unknown to the world was slowly opening before her.
Beyond it lay another world. A new and supernatural world.
Ling Fang regarded her with mild surprise. “You really are clever. No wonder…”
No wonder she had survived after awakening without knowing anything at all.
That was rare.
It was also why Ling Fang had come here.
“I represent a department responsible for handling special incidents.”
As he spoke, Ling Fang placed a clay figurine with its hands covering its ears on one corner of the table.
Only then did Xie Qingling notice another figurine at the opposite corner, this one covering its eyes with its hands.
“The people around us can no longer perceive our presence or hear us. Now we can begin.”
The moment he finished speaking, Xie Qingling’s sensitive awareness caught something in the air around them twisting faintly.
Then it dispersed like dust and smoke, as though nothing had happened.
Xie Qingling’s heart trembled. The change seemed to awaken something instinctive within her, sharpening her awareness of everything around her.
In the air, Ling Fang’s voice seemed now distant, now close.
He was telling Xie Qingling about a remote and almost unbelievable world.
Roughly fifty years ago, before Xie Qingling was born, a divine manifestation was discovered within the Xia Nation.
It was a beast with a horned tiger’s head, the body of a dragon, and four claws, pure white all over.
The beast said its name was Bai Ze.
Bai Ze radiated an aura of auspiciousness. It left behind a message foretelling the revival of the ancient gods, then vanished.
Today, almost all folk records of supernatural legends and mythology had disappeared. Official books and archives, however, tended to be richer and more comprehensive than anything available among the public.
The authorities immediately suppressed the news and began a series of observations concerning the revival of the ancient gods. Ultimately, what they observed matched Bai Ze’s warning exactly.
The righteous gods were absent. Demons ran rampant.
The gods had fallen in the distant ancient past, and no incense offerings remained for them in the human world. Without the gods’ protection, demons emerged to sow chaos. Newly awakened and desperate to replenish their strength, they began slaughtering humans.
Strange and uncanny incidents followed one after another.
Residents died without cause. Natural disasters descended without explanation.
Without any power to suppress and govern them, the boundary between life and death blurred, and the places where one world met another descended into chaos.
Every horror and calamity was drawn in through that other world.
Fortunately, human society had developed weapons of its own. To a certain extent, the power of science could contend with these disasters and afflictions.
Many incidents were resolved in secret and smoothed over until they appeared perfectly ordinary.
Common citizens continued to live their quiet lives of everyday trivialities. No large-scale panic broke out.
As long as they neither touched nor saw it, that world remained no more than a distant dream to modern humans, one that might never even linger in their minds.
Theirs would be a fortunate life.
For they would forever remain protected within a cradle of security.
Later, as experience accumulated, the authorities established the department to which Ling Fang belonged.
It was a department active only within the supernatural world. Its branches were scattered across different regions, each guarding its own territory. No one knew of them, and no one would ever speak of them.
“Unfortunately, methods from the mortal realm can inflict only limited harm on them. The best approach is to fight magic with magic.”
“Among humans, some people awaken with the ability to communicate with the supernatural world and fight demons. We call them Spirit Wielders.”
“But we still haven’t discovered what determines a Spirit Wielder’s awakening. Often, by the time we find them, they’re already dead. The monsters lying in wait are far more sensitive to Spirit Wielders than we are. It’s as though they are born knowing how to find them, and they always arrive one step ahead of us.”
“You are a newly awakened Spirit Wielder. And fortunately, you’re still alive.”
Ling Fang did not know how Xie Qingling had survived, but she was indeed standing before him, with nothing more than a blue-purple bruise on her temple and her left hand wrapped tightly in a white bandage.
Compared with other newly awakened Spirit Wielders, she was extraordinarily fortunate.
Perhaps fortune alone could not explain it.
This girl was calm and intelligent. Faced with an unknown and terrifying world, not only had she avoided being frightened out of her wits, she had even found a way to respond.
Ling Fang guessed that it might have something to do with her field of study. A girl who dealt with corpses every day had to possess mental fortitude as part of her professional training. Her temperament would naturally be tougher and more resilient than that of an ordinary person.
After a brief silence, Xie Qingling sorted through the information now in her mind.
This world truly was full of bizarre wonders.
She suppressed the shock in her heart and asked as calmly as she could, “I have a few questions for you.”
“Answering your questions is why I came today.”
“First, will you hurt me?”
“We preserve order. As long as you don’t decide to destroy the world, we won’t act against you. On the contrary, if you fail to use your gift properly, you will inevitably end up standing against us.” At this, his gaze sharpened.
Xie Qingling felt no pressure from it. She nodded and continued, “Those monsters… will they keep hurting me?”
“Yes.”
“Even if I do nothing and never offend them?”
“Even if you do nothing and never offend them,” Ling Fang said. “As long as you’re alive, sooner or later, one of them will harvest you.”
Xie Qingling frowned. “Why?”
“To them, your flesh and blood are the finest delicacy imaginable. Newly awakened gods need to seek incense offerings, while the flesh and blood of a Spirit Wielder are the nourishing feast every demon dreams of.” Ling Fang warned her, “You were fortunate that the first thing you encountered was a Shanxiao. A Shanxiao is merely a mountain monster. It doesn’t eat people; it’s simply petty and terribly vindictive.”
Xie Qingling’s face went pale.
In other words, if she had encountered a man-eating spirit, she might not be standing here now, whole and unharmed…
Although she had prepared herself before coming, Xie Qingling still could not immediately accept that she had become food to nourish demons.
She was human, at the top of the food chain, and now she had become food for demons.
The sensation of being regarded as a meal sent a chill through her entire body.
“Then how should I…” Xie Qingling raised her head and looked at Ling Fang.
His expression had remained gentle throughout, but his manner maintained a deliberate distance. He had also emphasized the cruelty of the other world at every turn, steadily applying pressure. Xie Qingling fell into thought.
She changed her question. “Then will you protect me? Your department, I mean.”
“Of course.” Ling Fang nodded. “We will do everything we can to protect you, just as we protect everyone else. But I must warn you: ordinary agencies are powerless against incidents like these. And the Special Incident Response Department here in Future City is badly understaffed. You’d better pray that you’re lucky enough every time to hold out until we arrive.”
“Besides, our people aren’t saviors. We fail, and we die. Another person’s protection does not mean absolute safety.”
Xie Qingling kept her head lowered. He could not see her expression or tell what she was thinking.
“Rather than wait for others to protect you, you’d be better off taking up a weapon and protecting yourself. As an awakened Spirit Wielder, you have already earned the right to wield one. Rather than endure attacks passively, spending every day in dread and vigilance only to end up as a monster’s meal, you should strike first and drive them out completely.”
“The best defense is a good offense, isn’t it?”
Xie Qingling, who had remained silent all this time, suddenly raised her head.
“That’s exactly what I think.” For the first time since meeting Ling Fang, she smiled. “I never place the power to decide my fate in someone else’s hands.”
“So please tell me how to take up a weapon.”