Chapter 130: Documents and Transactions

"You still think someone is watching you?" After driving a considerable distance, Bu Zhaozha asked him again, "Do you still have that feeling?"

"No. It's gone." He frowned, which made him even more certain of his perception.

"Perhaps it's a paranormal relic... Perhaps some kind of spirit," he hesitated as he speculated. "Maybe it has nothing to do with what happened back then, but... I care deeply about it."

He spoke softly, and Bu Zhaozha acknowledged it. As he looked toward the roadside, another voice suddenly echoed in his mind.

"You did... well."

The voice was intermittent, as if veiled by a thin layer of gauze. He paused slightly upon hearing it, and then immediately reacted.

"It's you. Is it you?"

The young girl's voice ignored him, continuing on its own: "Lies... enough for a week's supply."

As her voice faded, an inexplicable sense of fullness and satisfaction blossomed at the nerve endings of Chen Qing. The sensation of desires fulfilled, the secret delight of having deceived others...

"Hiss..." He clenched his teeth, lowering his head to keep passersby from noticing. Fortunately, the feeling came quickly and left just as fast.

In a mere instant, Chen Qing broke free from that intoxicating satisfaction.

He raised his head, slipped his hand into his pocket, and touched the human-faced skin: "Was it you?"

He muttered softly, recalling the reprimand that had once sounded beside his ear.

He still remembered that day when he stood before those historical remnants resembling toxic history, his willpower already on the verge of collapse.

It was that single reprimand that had awakened him.

Yet why would she save him...

Chen Qing instinctively felt that their past was far from simple.

He shook the chaotic thoughts from his mind and focused on the documents before him. He unfolded the yellowed sheets of paper, whose handwriting had grown somewhat blurred.

There were five documents in total. The first was a birth certificate: Chen Qing, born October 24, 1969, male.

Next were several registration forms required for household registration.

The second document was a receipt certificate.

It stated that (redacted) had received (redacted) on February 12, 1971.

This is hereby certified.

Frowning, he lifted the paper against the sunlight, so curious about the names hidden beneath the ink.

However, as the warm sunlight fell upon the paper, it merely illuminated the age and antiquity of the material.

The ink written together had long since melted into one, making them indistinguishable.

He lowered the document. The third one was a death certificate.

This is hereby certified: Citizen (redacted) is deceased and no longer holds any legal effect.

The fourth was an adoption certificate.

He frowned. The dense layers of ink covering this document were astonishing. Other documents merely erased key terms, but this one left only the header.

Was this document very important?

He thought for a moment; perhaps it belonged to him.

The fifth was a rubbed copy of an identification card.

He looked at the document. The personal information had been entirely erased, but the portion corresponding to the human face still showed the lower half of a mouth.

Who was this?

He gazed at that face, which appeared utterly unfamiliar to him.

"Did you find the information you wanted?" she leaned in close and asked by Chen Qing's ear.

"No... didn't find it." He looked at the documents in his hand, hesitating for a moment before putting them away.

He turned his head and looked at Bu Zhaozha beside him to ask, "My business is done. Do you have any leads on Jiang Wan's situation?"

She was slightly stunned. "What leads?"

"Since this is such an ancient... way of touching the extraordinary, how am I supposed to stop them?" He hesitated for a moment before asking Bu Zhaozha, "It's not like I can keep lingering on the streets and slap them with this eye whenever they show up."

She thought about it, almost feeling the urge to nod.

"That's not... entirely unfeasible."

Seeing the disdainful look in Chen Qing's eyes, she turned a bit more serious. "Under normal circumstances, you need to find their story. Among the tales passed from mouth to mouth, you must find the one that affects the target—the story representing the vast majority of rumors.

"Next, you need to find a way to counter the enemy from within it. If the rumor's story doesn't have a counter, you have to find a way to weave your modified story into the mix and spread it.

"Going through all that trouble..." She shrugged. "Is still not as good as using sheer brute force."

Listening to her words, Chen Qing cast her a sideways glance for a moment before finally shaking his head.

"Forget it... Let's do it the honest way."

He spoke softly, and the return trip had reached its destination.

By the time he made it back home, the sky was not yet fully dark.

The domestic scent of the surrounding neighbors' cooking was just beginning to drift into the air.

He opened his web browser and searched the local forums for information related to those three cases.

If they wanted to use rumors to gain extraordinary power, they could not possibly avoid the path of the internet.

Ten years ago...

He tapped lightly on the keyboard. Just as he was about to search, he noticed a notification flashing repeatedly.

That message came from the Secret Keeper Forum.

"There's news lately that a lot of people died in the southern part of the city. Anyone want to talk about it?" — Albino

Chen Qing looked at the words on the screen, hesitated for a moment, and replied to the Sailor first.

"I have delivered the message for you."

He hadn't even waited two seconds after sending it before receiving a string of exclamation points.

"The reward for the transaction will be notified to you later. Please place the reward at the designated location when it is convenient for you."

After he sent this message, the other person's avatar displayed as offline.

Chen Qing thought about it and did not believe the other party would simply swallow the transaction's reward.

"Related to the extraordinary." — Thousand-Faced Man.

He waited for a moment, and another message arrived.

"Was it caused by that kind of entity creature?" — Albino.

"No. Not quite, it's somewhat different."

"..."

"If you need more detailed information, I have it here, but I require information in exchange." — Thousand-Faced Man.

On the other side of the screen, the young girl's coughing grew louder and louder. She stared at the screen, her gaze harboring a flicker of hope mixed with a touch of cunning and gloom.