Monster, Joins the Ninth Bureau

I know that in Xie Yi's eyes, I must look like a monster right now.

Actually, sometimes I think I am a monster too. I don't know why I'm like this.

"Jiang Xiaobai, you've really made me see you in a new light. But now I'm even more curious about what's going on between you and Xu Qiuyan. Can the two of you actually communicate through dreams?" Xie Yi asked me.

I shook my head. I didn't know either. Maybe I'd only get the answer after seeing Xu Qiuyan.

Just as I had experienced before, the entire thirteenth floor of the Second Provincial Hospital was taken over by Xie Yi's people. I could accurately point out the ward where Uncle Long was staying, but this time I didn't go in. Instead, I walked straight to the door of the ward at the end of the corridor and stopped.

This was Xu Qiuyan's ward.

Xie Yi stood beside me, watching me. Earlier, I had told him that when I saw Xu Qiuyan, she was singing and dancing in her room, and the song she sang was the children's song she loved most when we were kids: Little Bug Flies.

And now, wasn't that her voice coming from the ward?

"The dark sky hangs low, bright stars follow close, little bugs fly, little bugs fly, who are you missing..."

I took a deep breath. I was reliving all of this again. Only before, it might have been in a dream, and now it was in reality.

No—I couldn't even be sure if where I was right now was reality anymore. I had confused even myself.

But whether it was reality or a dream, I had to face it.

People often have no choice. They can only be pushed forward by their own fate.

What I despised most were those people who weren't successful themselves but spent all day giving others pep talks, saying things like "change your destiny with your own hands." I would always sneer at that. A person's fate was already set long ago; it wasn't something you could change just because you wanted to.

Look at all the people in the world. Who wasn't busy? Who wasn't struggling to live? But effort didn't always bring reward. And some people were born with silver spoons in their mouths. Even if they accomplished nothing, they never had to worry about making a living. They could even judge others and play the role of a successful person. In my eyes, people who lived off their parents' blessings were no different from parasites—just flashy ones.

I gently pushed the door open, humming along with her tune.

My eyes felt a little wet. Even though this should have been our second meeting as adults, I still couldn't hold back the tears. My state of mind was no different from the first time I saw her.

She was exactly as she had been in my dream, without a single difference. Her dance was light, her voice beautiful. I savored the joy she brought me. I didn't want to disturb her, so I stood quietly at the door, my eyes never leaving her.

Xie Yi was behind me. He didn't make a sound either. Maybe he was also captivated by her singing and dancing.

"Xiaobai!" Xu Qiuyan finally stopped. Her eyes stared straight at me.

I smiled and walked over. According to the previous script, she should now throw herself into my arms and hug me tightly.

Sure enough, she rushed over and hugged me tightly, but her words had changed: "I thought you weren't coming back!"

I gently patted her back. "How could that be? I said I'd come back, and I will."

Without waiting for her to beg me to take her away from here, I turned to Xie Yi and said, "I'm taking her with me."

There wasn't much surprise on Xie Yi's face, because I had already told him this would happen. It was just repeating itself now.

Xie Yi nodded. "No problem. You can take her whenever you want. But Jiang Xiaobai, have you thought about how you're going to settle her?"

He asked the same question as before, and it still stumped me. It seemed I still hadn't thought this through properly. Right—I was still a college student, living in the school dormitory. There was no way I could bring a girl back there.

Send her back to Qiao City to live with my grandpa? That didn't seem right either.

The most important thing was that my tuition and living expenses had always been covered by my grandpa. Although I had never truly faced or admitted that reality before, I was clear-headed now. Without my grandpa, there would be no me.

I fell silent, but when I saw the pleading look in Xu Qiuyan's eyes, my heart softened. "Let's leave here first. We'll figure something out."

Xie Yi nodded and stepped forward to pat me on the shoulder. "Can we talk first?"

I looked at Xu Qiuyan. She frowned slightly. "Talk again?"

"What do you mean 'again'?" Xie Yi said casually. But then he remembered what I had told him about my meeting with Xu Qiuyan—how we had left her ward to talk alone, and then I had gone back to the past.

So Xie Yi glanced at me as if he felt guilty. I said, "Alright. Talking is fine."

I said to Xu Qiuyan, "Wait for me. This time, I won't make you wait long."

Xu Qiuyan nodded, a smile returning to her face. "I believe you. Go ahead."

Xie Yi led me to that office again. I say "again" because the last time we talked, it was in this same office.

"Jiang Xiaobai, I have a suggestion. I don't know if you'll accept it, but it will only benefit you—you and Xu Qiuyan."

I smiled. This was a bit different from the original script. Before, I had been the one to propose joining the Ninth Bureau. Now, he was the one bringing it up first. Even though he hadn't said what his suggestion was, I was sure he was going to invite Xu Qiuyan and me to join the Ninth Bureau Special Section.

Seeing me smile, he asked, puzzled, "What are you smiling about?"

I said, "Because I already guessed what your suggestion is."

When I had told him earlier about meeting Xu Qiuyan at the Second Provincial Hospital, I hadn't mentioned that I had proposed joining the Ninth Bureau. So he found it strange. "Oh? You know? Let's hear it." The look on his face suggested he didn't really believe I could read his mind.

I said slowly, "You want us to join your Ninth Bureau Special Section—her and me, right?"

Xie Yi narrowed his eyes, as if trying to see through my thoughts. Maybe he thought this was too incredible.

After a few seconds, he sighed. "How did you guess? Don't tell me you can read minds."

I shrugged. "Because this was exactly what we were going to talk about before. I mean, in my dream just now. As for mind reading, I can't do that. But Eccentric Song can. He's a psychology prodigy. Ask Professor Wang if you don't believe me."

Xie Yi rolled his eyes at me. "Cut it out. Professor Wang was the one who told me you have Eccentric Song's personality in you. But he did give you high praise—said you not only learned philosophy well, but your psychology was outstanding among all his students. He also said you have two other personalities, but he never actually met them. Tell me, who are the other two?"

I retorted, "They're not personalities I created. They're my friends. Actually, you've met one of them."

Xie Yi froze, but he quickly caught on. "You mean in your dream before? Here, the 'me' in the dream met him?"

"That's right. He was the one who told me that Uncle Long and Aunt Qin had lost their souls, and he was the one who told me about the 'Soul Guiding Incantation.' His name is Duan Hongbin. He never went to college, but he's very knowledgeable about the I Ching and such. Oh, and he once studied with a Taoist priest—he's very well-versed in feng shui, yin-yang, and other esoteric arts." I told Xie Yi.

"Mm, knowing about the Soul Guiding Incantation means you've got some real skill." Xie Yi nodded, then asked, "And the other one?"

"The other one is called Chu Ge. He's skilled in medicine and a good fighter, but his temperament is very detached—he doesn't like getting involved in trouble. Both he and Duan Hongbin are lazy and rarely take part in our affairs."

"Interesting. Alright, since you've already guessed what my suggestion is, what do you think? Willing to join us?"

I countered, "Do you think we meet your requirements?"

Xie Yi smiled. "Barely."

"Then fine, I agree. But you just said joining you would bring us nothing but benefits—what exactly are those benefits?" I asked. To me, this point seemed very important.