Tong Qian’s matter might be kept from Wang Xiaoming for a while, but there was absolutely no way to hide it for long. It would be better to let Headquarters investigate it themselves. Even if Wang Xiaoming could guess a thing or two, he would not be able to learn the full picture.
Tong Qian sat on the sofa in silence for a long time. In the end, she raised her head and looked at Yang Jian. She said,
“Don’t worry. I understand what should be said and what shouldn’t.”
She paused, then continued, “I want to… stay here for one night first. I still need to think things over. Is that all right?”
After going through such a drastic change, anyone would need time to breathe and adjust. Tong Qian needed time to consider the path she would take from now on.
“There are still empty rooms on the second floor. Help yourself.”
With that, Yang Jian picked up the golden body bag beside him and left the villa. He still had a pile of things waiting for him to handle: Zhang Sun’s corpse, the coffin nail, and that strange black fire inside his body…
In the darkness, a short silhouette stood silently.
Yang Jian ordered the figure, “Follow me back.”
A child whose entire body was a bluish-black color and exuded an evil air immediately ran out. With stiff steps that did not match its size, it furtively followed behind Yang Jian.
One person and one ghost walked along the dim path and arrived before the old Republican-era residence. It had already been renovated and turned into a highly modern detached house.
As he stepped onto the second floor, a cold, quiet figure was already standing at the stairway. It was Wang Shanshan, as though she had long since sensed Yang Jian’s arrival.
“It’s so late. You still haven’t rested?”
Wang Shanshan walked out. The moment Yang Jian approached this place, she had sensed him. As Yang Jian’s ghost slave, there had always been a connection between Wang Shanshan and him that surpassed common sense.
“Just walking around. You don’t need to mind me.”
Yang Jian glanced at the ghost child behind him. This thing seemed to have grown slightly. Its bluish-black skin gave off a cold sheen under the faint light. He had no idea what Wang Shanshan usually fed it.
“Just let it keep staying by your side. Right now, it has more value to me as a subject of research.”
Yang Jian walked to the table by the window and sat down. He looked at the moon outside, which was still tinged with a faint scarlet color, and said nothing more.
That was the residue left behind when Yang Jian had unfolded his Ghost Domain on the moon. However, that red color was now merely superficial; there was no supernatural power in it.
Seeing that Yang Jian no longer spoke, Wang Shanshan understood that perhaps he merely wanted to stay somewhere quiet. She turned and led the ghost child into the room.
The lights in the room were not on. Moonlight from outside shone through the glass, making his figure appear blurred and cold.
Yang Jian took out a piece of yellowed human-skin paper and fell silent.
This human skin was far too sinister. It always wove fatal traps within truthful information. Even now, Yang Jian still could not determine whether some self-awareness was lurking inside this human-skin paper.
But now, he had a question he had to confirm with it.
Yang Jian asked in a low voice, “How did I control that black fire?”
This time, the human-skin paper did not display its usual opening words, nor did it fall into silence.
Through the moonlight, one could vaguely see that on the surface of the yellowed human skin, there were only three crooked characters, as though they had barely been drawn with the last of its strength.
“I don’t know.”
Beneath the same moonlight, far away in Dajing City.
Wang Xiaoming stood atop a tall building, raising his head to gaze at the blood-red moon in the sky. His expression was obscure and unreadable.
“Can you still see it?”
Wang Xiaoming’s voice was very soft. It was as if he was asking about the abnormality of that blood-red moon, and also as if he was asking something else.
An old man stood beside him and remained silent for a long time.
In the end, the old man slowly turned around and disappeared into the night without saying a single word.
Early the next morning, Yang Jian withdrew from a state between sleep and waking.
He did not need to sleep. But ever since he had controlled the Ghost Dream, he had developed the need to enter dreams. Only in dreams could he feel his true self; only there could he touch what little remained of his sense of reality as a “human.”
To avoid being gradually eroded by malevolent ghosts, he needed to maintain what little humanity he had left within dreams.
Yang Jian did not disturb Wang Shanshan. He returned to the villa alone. The villa was empty in the early morning; at this time, Jiang Yan and the others had not yet woken up.
His gaze fell on the dining table. A piece of letter paper was pressed beneath a cup. He walked over and picked it up. The handwriting on it was elegant and neat.
“Yang Jian, by the time you see this letter, I will already have made my decision. As I said last night, I still want to do my best to save those ordinary people who are innocently caught up in supernatural events. I will carry out the ideal in my heart. At the same time, I will also make sure that I no longer pursue absolute justice like I did before. You were right. This world was never simply black and white to begin with. Some people are not worth saving.”
“I have decided to go to Headquarters. There, my experience and determination may be able to serve their greatest purpose. If there is anything you need from me, you can come find me at any time. You saved me twice. If one day you still need this body of mine, come find me.”
“Thank you, Captain.”
—Tong Qian.
Putting down the letter in his hand, Yang Jian’s eyes shifted slightly. His fingertips unconsciously paused for an instant on the rough surface of the paper.
He walked to the refrigerator and casually took out a can of cola.
Just then, a burst of panicked footsteps and faint sounds came from upstairs.
Then Yang Jian saw a disheveled figure rushing down the stairs in a flurry, running while regretfully muttering, “I’m done for, I’m done for! I’m going to be late again!”
At the turn of the staircase, she unexpectedly crashed into an icy embrace and was almost bounced back.
“Jiang Yan, did you see a ghost?”
“Ow… that hurts.” Jiang Yan rubbed her aching forehead. Still drowsy, with a pair of deep dark circles under her eyes, she stared blankly at Yang Jian for several seconds before suddenly reacting.
“Ah! Yang Jian! Why didn’t you tell me in advance that you were back?!” Her voice carried the hoarseness of someone who had just woken up, as well as surprise.
Yang Jian drank his cola and looked at her. “I’m returning to my own house. Who do I need to notify?”
“I’m done for, I’m done for!”
As if she had suddenly remembered something, she touched her face. “You saw me looking like this! My image is completely ruined!”
As soon as she finished speaking, she darted back upstairs like a gust of wind. From the looks of it, she had probably gone to put on makeup.
She knew that Yang Jian had gone abroad on a mission. These past few days, she had been so worried that she had not slept well. Otherwise, with how much she valued work, there was no way she would have been late.
After glancing at Jiang Yan running upstairs, Yang Jian went to the innermost room on the third floor. This was where the ghost that had run out of the mirror last night was being kept, along with the coffin nail he had brought back from the moon.
Zhang Sun’s corpse had already been handed over to Deng Yashui last night. Dedicated staff had escorted it to Headquarters. He heard that Chen Yi and Guo Fan seemed to be leading the team. For the remains of a captain, Headquarters had given the matter the highest level of importance.