One Scatters, Another Gathers

They waited for two hours.

Bai Yang got tired of waiting, so he simply asked the Puppet to move a small sofa and sit down. He sank completely into the fluffy pajamas and the soft sofa, finally dispelling the metallic chill of the cell.

Tao Yuan and Wang Ding stood anxiously by the wall, waiting.

"Does it really take this long?" Mi Chuchu knelt down on the ground, looking at the two of them with concern, afraid that something might go wrong.

"We should be grateful that the Saintess can save us," Bai Yang said.

"I didn't mean to say anything bad about the Saintess," Mi Chuchu quickly added, "Of course, I didn't doubt her abilities either."

Bai Yang replied matter-of-factly, "Of course you can't doubt his abilities. If even Serlandin can't be saved, then don't think of any other way."

An Ying's gaze fell on Serlandin's chest, and she couldn't help but ask his question, "Why do you call him Saintess? Shouldn't you call him Saint Son?"

"It's just a title; he has his reasons," Bai Yang said.

"... I thought it was some kind of hobby of his?"

"Superficial." Bai Yang frowned, glancing sideways at Mi Chuchu. "Serlandin only cares about the living and the dead, and his only hobby is meddling in other people's business. Otherwise, he wouldn't be meddling in your affairs."

After saying that, Mi Chuchu realized it was inappropriate, apologized, and then fell silent.

"What he wears and what he says must be related to his past. Only his Master knows about his past." Bai Yang's eyes lit up when he talked about his Master.

The group was curious about who this Master he was talking about was, but they knew Bai Yang wouldn't tell them, so they didn't ask any further.

Two more hours passed before the Saintess finally moved.

He slowly withdrew the energy around him, and after the golden light dissipated, Qin Rang's body fell backward, only to be gently lifted up by Serlandin and placed on the bed in the room.

There's still hope.

The first words from Serlandin put the minds of the group of people who had been nervously standing up at the same time at ease.

"But it's difficult," he said. "His soul was invaded by something strange, damaging a part of it, resulting in a fragmented soul, and some of his body's energy was also plundered and disappeared."

"I just restored the remaining energy in his body and suppressed the invasion of the Evil Ghost Mask, but if you want to save him, you need to fulfill two conditions."

Serlandin slowed his speech. "First, find his lost energy; second, find his soul."

"Find his soul?"

Seeing the puzzled looks on their faces, Serlandin said, "I heard that you plan to go to the seaside to search for your friend Sheng Qingqiao's memories, to find the energy he lost that is similar to the memories you are looking for. Energy and memories do not simply disappear into thin air; one disperses, the other gathers."

"Their situations are different, but they also have similarities."

"As for the soul... Qin Rang's soul is incomplete; it will inevitably go somewhere, and you will need to find it yourselves."

Tao Yuan pressed on, "But where should we look?"

Bai Yang chimed in, "Just go find Qin Rang wherever he cares about most, misses most, and likes most."

Serlandin nodded, agreeing with Bai Yang's words.

"In that case, this is all I can do."

After Serlandin finished speaking, his figure disappeared into the air.

Tao Yuan stepped forward a few paces. "Sigh! How could you just leave like that?"

Bai Yang stretched his stiff limbs and said, "He has done all he can. There are still many people who need the Saintess's help, so naturally he doesn't have time to linger here any longer."

"Why don't you think about it more? Did Qin Rang have any favorite places to go before? Go there and you can't go wrong."

Wang Ding shook his head. "I'm not quite sure..."

Mi Chuchu shook her head as well. "He's the kind of person who can compromise on everything, but as for places he likes to go... it seems like he doesn't have any."

An Ying asked, "Could it be when he obtained the Evil Ghost Mask? Or when the team was formed?"

"Oh, right." An Ying frowned, as if she had thought of something, and asked Tao Yuan, "Is the captain an orphan?"

Tao Yuan nodded.

"Do you know who his parents were before? Could it be their family?"

Tao Yuan hesitated. "This..."

Qin Rang never took the initiative to talk about his family, and she was afraid of touching on his painful past, so she never asked.

Wang Ding pondered for a moment and said, "Qin Rang probably doesn't have parents or a home."

"Unlike us, Qin Rang had relatives before the Global Weirdification, but they all died one after another in the anomaly. Qin Rang was abandoned by his parents when he was young and grew up alone." Wang Ding recalled, "I think I saw the information form he submitted with Director Chen."

Bai Yang said, "Then why don't you just go to the Information Office and check his file? See where he used to live."

"That makes sense!" Tao Yuan said, pulling Bai Yang along. "Come on, let's go take a look together."

Why are you pulling me? I want to go back!

"Why go back? Come with us! It's getting late. We'll treat you to dinner after we find the information!"

"Yes, you and Serlandin helped us a lot this time, you're really a good person."

After much effort, the group finally found information related to Qin Rang before dark, but they didn't have the authority to access it. If they had to report it up the chain of command, the earliest they could find it would be tomorrow.

Fortunately, Wang Ding had Minister authority, so only he was allowed to go in and see.

The database contains all the detailed information that could be found after the Catastrophe. Because Qin Rang is the captain of the Dù'è Team and Purger controls S-Rank Weird Object, his level of confidentiality is very high. Even someone of Wang Ding's level can only be granted special permission to see it for ten minutes.

Ten minutes later, Wang Ding came out and said to them, "Let's go, we'll talk as we walk."

An Ying said, "I've already made reservations for the meal."

The group walked out of the Information Office. It was already dark, and the snow outside had lessened considerably. Several small stalls were set up under the streetlights, and the air smelled delicious.

Wang Ding put on his woolen hat, An Ying opened her umbrella, and they walked together with Tao Yuan.

"If Sheng Qingqiao were here, she'd definitely be demanding to eat at a roadside stall," Mi Chuchu reminisced, walking at the front.

The image of Sheng Qingqiao laughing carefree in front of the stall seemed to appear before their eyes. At this time, Qin Rang usually play tricks and deliberately leave him alone, leaving Sheng Qingqiao behind in helpless rage.

"Are you planning to set off immediately after you found the information?" Bai Yang interrupted their sorrow.

Tao Yuan looked down at his footprints in the snow. "Yeah, the longer we wait, the greater the risk."

"Aren't you even celebrating the New Year?"

"No way, we're not even all here, what's the point of celebrating..."

Bai Yang asked, "Aren't you afraid that you might die on your way to rescue your teammates?"

Thinking of his former teammates, Tao Yuan said, "At least I can have a clear conscience. I can't just do nothing and watch my teammates die."

An Ying also said, "It's no different from going to a more distant place to clean up the strange things."