Heavenly King Suppresses the Tiger, Pagoda Suppresses the River Demon

Nine thirty finally arrived.

The text message had only said Sophia Church Square, without specifying an exact location.

The place was neither particularly large nor particularly small.

I was still sitting on that bench. Since no exact location had been specified, it made no difference where I was.

It was already time, yet no one had come looking for me.

My phone had not rung either. Had someone played me?

I decided to wait another five minutes. If they still did not come to see me or contact me after five minutes, I would leave.

The five minutes passed quickly. Just as I was about to stand up, a man in a black trench coat, baseball cap, sunglasses, and mask sat down beside me, holding a newspaper.

After sitting down, he did not speak to me. Instead, he opened the newspaper and began reading.

But seeing him like that made me laugh.

It was late at night, and the lighting was dim, yet he wore sunglasses while reading the paper. Being that pretentious was one thing, but he was even holding the newspaper upside down.

I wanted to laugh, but ultimately held it in and stood up to leave.

"Heavenly King Suppresses the Tiger!" the man suddenly said. Then he swiftly turned his head in a circle, as though surveying his surroundings.

Could this guy be the one who had arranged to meet me? This was way too over-the-top. He was practically a living comedy act.

Still, why did his voice sound so familiar?

"Heavenly King Suppresses the Tiger!" he said again. Suddenly, I remembered the spy-catching games we played as children. Television had not been widespread back then, and most movies were domestic war films. Tracks in the Snowy Forest had been especially popular with us. We had all been kids then, so we often played at catching spies, imitating the secret codes from the movie.

"Pagoda Suppresses the River Demon," I replied.

Upon hearing that, the guy suddenly tossed away his newspaper and tightly seized both my hands. "Comrade, I've finally been waiting for you!"

I could feel people nearby looking at us with strange expressions.

I did not know whether to laugh or cry at his behavior. If he truly worked in covert operations, he would have sold himself and his comrades out long ago acting like this.

"You are?"

He raised his right index finger to his lips. "Shh!" With a toss of his head, he said, "Follow me."

I felt completely bewildered. Just what kind of person was this?

Could he have escaped from a mental hospital?

He led me into a nearby alley, then removed his sunglasses and slowly took off his mask.

Li Sen!

It was actually Li Sen!

No wonder his voice had sounded so familiar, yet I had not been able to place it right away.

That was because I had not heard his voice in reality, but in the Dreamscape—the dream where I had nearly married someone.

I was completely petrified.

"Surprised? Didn't expect this, did you?"

"How could it be you? And why are you dressed like this?" My mind was truly filled with far too many questions.

Seeing Li Sen in a dream was one thing. It had been a dream, after all. But now, I was one hundred percent certain that I was in reality, and the Li Sen before me was no different from the Li Sen in my dream.

Who could tell me what the hell was going on?

Xu Qiuyan had personally seen him jump from a building to his death.

He should have been dead already.

Yet now he stood alive and well before me.

This scene should have been as eerie and terrifying as possible, but he was somehow still hilarious.

"You're alive?" I could not help asking.

He nodded. "Of course. Although they've always wanted to kill me, making me take medicine or giving me injections every day, I still survived through sheer strength."

"Who are they?" My heart tightened. Perhaps Li Sen's appearance would bring me an unexpected breakthrough.

He pointed toward the entrance of the alley. "They're here! Run!"

As soon as he said it, he grabbed me and ran. At that moment, I saw a vehicle stop at the alley entrance, and several people in white medical uniforms, men and women alike, jumped out.

"He's over there!"

They immediately came after us.

I vaguely saw that the vehicle appeared to be an ambulance, with the words "Harbin City Mental Hospital" written on it.

So I had guessed right.

This kid had actually escaped from a mental hospital. I really felt there was something wrong with his head.

But at that moment, I decided to help him and not let them take him back to the mental hospital. He should be hiding a secret, one that was likely very important to me.

"Follow me!"

He had been pulling me before, but now I was the one pulling him.

The problem was, I was not familiar with Harbin either. I could only find a way to shake off the people from the mental hospital behind us first.

"You take him back first. Leave the people behind you to me."

Purple Clad suddenly appeared in front of me.

I nodded. This was no time for politeness. I merely said softly to her, "Don't hurt anyone."

"Don't worry. I won't."

I led Li Sen into an alley to the east. After running out of it, I hailed a taxi by the roadside and headed straight for the hotel.

The taxi stopped at the hotel entrance, and only then did I finally let out a long breath.

Li Sen and I got out. He instinctively looked around. "Is it safe here?"

I nodded. "Safe."

"Comrade, thank you!" He shook my hand again, then took a big stride as though preparing to leave.

"Where are you going?" I grabbed his arm. He stopped and looked at me. "Comrade, your rescue mission is complete. I can't cause you any more trouble. I'm leaving."

"Li Sen, you really don't recognize me?"

He frowned and stared hard at my face. "You look familiar."

I was speechless. "Come upstairs with me. It isn't safe outside."

But he shook his head. "No, I have something important to do."

"What?"

His face immediately turned wary. "Comrade, although you saved me, don't ask about things you shouldn't. Surely you haven't forgotten the confidentiality rules?"

I was furious, but I could not help wanting to laugh. He really had gotten too deep into character.

But for the moment, I had no idea what to do.

Just then, Purple Clad got out of a taxi that had just stopped and came over to my side. "What's wrong with him?"

"His brain's broken. Can you help me keep him here?"

Purple Clad smiled. "No problem."

She walked over to Li Sen and directly struck the side of his neck with the edge of her hand. Li Sen went limp and began to collapse, so I immediately rushed forward and caught him.

The security guard at the hotel entrance stared dumbly.

I told the security guard, "My friend had too much to drink. He's a little out of it."

The security guard gave an "Oh," then came over and helped me support him to the elevator.

But I saw that the security guard still looked doubtful, so I handed him a hundred-yuan bill. "Brother, thanks."

The security guard did not take the money. Instead, he leaned close to my ear and whispered, "If you really need it, I can do it too. No charge." His face reddened slightly after saying that, and the look in his eyes became somewhat resentful.

What the hell?

He even added, "A forcibly twisted melon isn't sweet."

Watching his retreating figure, I asked Purple Clad, "What did he mean?"

Purple Clad let out a silver-bell-like laugh. "He thought you were gay."

Only then did I understand. I shot Purple Clad an annoyed glare. She said nothing more and made a face at me.

I got Li Sen into the room and tossed him onto the bed.

"Go get Xu Qiuyan," I told Purple Clad.

"Okay!" she answered obediently.

Although I was very dissatisfied with her following me tonight, she deserved much credit for helping us evade the mental hospital staff and bring Li Sen back.

Still, I kept wondering why she had followed me. Did she have some ulterior motive?

Before long, Xu Qiuyan arrived.

She was also startled when she saw Li Sen. "What's going on?"

I told her what had happened that night. After hearing it, she said, "So you went alone? What if the person who arranged to meet you tonight had not been Li Sen, but Abe Ichinan or another Onmyoji from the Island Nation? What if something had happened to you?"

Purple Clad spoke from the side. "Don't worry. With me there, he wouldn't have been in danger."

Xu Qiuyan shot her a displeased look. Purple Clad quickly lowered her head, though she still pouted.

Xu Qiuyan asked softly, "Why were you following him? What were you after?"

"What could I possibly be after? I just felt that something might happen to him tonight, so I followed him."

I asked curiously, "How did you sense that?"

Xu Qiuyan rolled her eyes at me. "Actually, I sensed it too. I just didn't expect you to be so bold. Good thing Purple Clad was there, otherwise let's see what you would've done."

I shrugged. "At worst, I would've told them I was Li Sen's family and gone through the proper procedures to get him discharged."

Xu Qiuyan smiled. "Really? You're so sure they were actually from the mental hospital?"

I froze. Weren't they?

Xu Qiuyan shook her head. "I don't think what happened tonight was that simple. We don't know whether Li Sen sent that message. We can't be sure whether those people were from the mental hospital either. Besides, I personally watched Li Sen jump from that building to his death. So if this is Li Sen, then who died? And if the one who died was Li Sen, then who is this?"

I pursed my lips. "Could it be that Li Sen's situation is like Zhuanghe's?"

"You mean he might be a clone?"

I nodded. "Or perhaps the one who died was the clone."

Xu Qiuyan's expression turned serious as well. "That is indeed possible."