"Hm?"
Having suddenly returned to the present, Han Su felt as if he had been dragged through an endless river of time in an instant. Everything before his eyes was still twisting and shifting, and the sounds around him seemed to be coming from far away, drawing closer.
When the sound finally reached his ears, he met the gaze of the disheveled female staff member and still found her words a little strange.
Handsome boy? Was she making fun of him?
But then he suddenly realized something. Han Su looked up at the one-way glass directly in front of him and saw his reflection.
He stared fixedly at his own eyes, both of them whole and unharmed.
"My eyes are healed?"
Once he finally realized he had escaped again, Han Su let out a long breath of relief. He then surveyed his surroundings, confirming that he had returned to the moment just after entering the Disaster Management Bureau for testing. Only then did he feel a little more at ease.
What followed was an irrepressible surge of excitement that made him tremble.
"I..."
He thought the words to himself, but even his inner voice was trembling uncontrollably, filled with disbelief. I think... I got one of them out?
"..."
He really had gotten one of them out, hadn't he?
Han Su tried to convince himself as he thought it over. He could still vividly remember the warm sensation of the small, soft body in his arms as it fell through that door and into reality.
But had he really done it?
He couldn't help doubting himself. He had failed too many times, and every time, the children had suffered because of him.
All those previous risks and plans had ended in failure.
Could it really be that this time, a casual glimpse had been enough to help him rescue someone?
He almost couldn't believe it. When something you had waited for so long finally happened, you couldn't help wondering whether it was all just a fantasy.
To Zhang Chiguo and the staff member beside him, Han Su looked as if he had just come to and was still dazed. Their expressions turned somewhat helpless.
"You passed the test. Don't forget what I told you earlier. Take the training seriously."
"Do everything you can to get into Group D1D2."
Zhang Chiguo patted Han Su on the shoulder with satisfaction, then left. From the way the old man walked, it seemed as if he had just shed a tremendous burden. Even his steps had grown lighter.
"You can go now. Just write up the report honestly, then get Chief Zhang to sign it."
The woman in the black suit turned to the disheveled staff member and asked, "Any problems?"
"None. He's completely safe."
The staff member said, "I've never seen anyone who felt no discomfort at all while the Cipher Incantation was playing. He even started getting drowsy as he listened."
"That kid shows no signs of contamination. His spirituality is so low it's practically appalling!"
"..."
"Low spirituality isn't a bad thing."
The woman in the black suit smiled, then said to Han Su, "Get up, kid. I'll take you to the Disaster Management Bureau's assessment. Perhaps we'll be colleagues before long."
"Colleagues?"
Han Su's mind was still filled with overwhelming disbelief and joy, but he obediently stood up all the same.
As he followed the woman in the black suit back to the lounge, he still felt as though he were walking on cotton, as if none of this were real.
Only after completing his registration, apparently signing up for some kind of assessment, and going through a series of physical examinations did his thoughts finally settle. He found an opportunity to ask the woman in the black suit, who had accompanied him the whole time, "Ma'am, about that..."
"...that Kidnapping Case..."
"..."
The woman in the black suit's expression shifted. She glanced around, then lowered her voice. "Didn't Chief Zhang already tell you not to bring up this case casually?"
"Especially inside the Disaster Management Bureau. Not everyone is a friend of Chief Zhang's."
"I can tell how much he values you, and that he wants you to avoid unnecessary trouble at the Bureau. So if you trust him, you should listen to his advice too. Don't mention this matter again. Just act like you're a new recruit at the Disaster Management Bureau until he formally asks to speak with you."
"..."
Han Su could tell she was on guard, so he nodded and chose his words carefully. "I just want to make sure I'll get the chance to investigate this case..."
"...After all, it involves more than twenty lives."
He deliberately slowed down as he spoke. "Even now, there are still more than twenty children who haven't been found..."
"Twenty-five!" The woman in the black suit frowned. "Twenty-five missing children."
"Not just Chief Zhang—even I remember this case vividly."
"But this is the last time I'll remind you: don't go around mentioning this case so easily. Do you think Chief Zhang isn't under pressure too?"
"He promised to have a proper talk with you, so do everything you can to pass the assessment first!"
"..."
"Twenty-five?"
Han Su's heart jolted, and he even felt a faint ringing in his ears.
So he really had gotten one of them out?
After Xu Ji, another child had been brought out of the Ancient Castle by Han Su. That meant one fewer victim from the Kidnapping Case. The number had fallen from twenty-six to twenty-five...
"Why does he look so silly?"
Watching Han Su break into a grin out of nowhere as they spoke, the woman in the black suit found him a little strange too.
This was the kid the man who was so cold and ruthless he wouldn't even pay overtime kept thinking about? Why did he seem so...
...good-looking, but otherwise useless?
So I really did get a child out. When I return to the Ancient Castle next time, will there be another door inside that can help me escape?
Or will something else have changed?
Han Su was swept up in this overwhelming joy, and for a moment he couldn't rein in his thoughts.
Ever since that Mysterious Power had started dragging him back into the past, he felt as if it had been ages since he'd felt so exhilarated.
But even as he was caught up in his excitement, he suddenly realized something absurd. Then... who exactly was the girl I got out?
He hadn't really known the kidnapped children. He had only remembered their faces.
He remembered that the girl was quiet and withdrawn, one of the more ordinary children among the kidnapped group, with little that stood out about her.
Although he had looked into the identities of the children in the real world, not all twenty-six had been identified publicly. The girl was one of the ones whose identity had never been revealed.
Before the kidnapping, the tall, thin woman who had raised him had just transferred him into that class, so he didn't know all the children's names either.
He racked his brain, trying hard to remember. He seemed to recall someone calling her "Meilan."
Was it Meilan? Or a name that sounded the same?
And it was no longer possible to go back to that class and look up her name and background.
Just as Xu Ji had vanished from the Kidnapping Case after being rescued, he had also disappeared from that class.
The girl was probably the same.
And judging by what had happened with Xu Ji, he had forgotten that he'd been kidnapped, so of course he'd forgotten that Han Su had rescued him too. In theory, the girl wouldn't remember Han Su either.
Wouldn't that mean he couldn't even find her?
But perhaps, just as Xu Ji had become his friend, they would meet again somehow.
At least Han Su had come to terms with that. To him, the fact that he had gotten the girl out mattered more than who she was.
As long as he had gotten her out, that was enough.
Since he had managed to save her, then Li Manman, Song Yushi, the Tuxedo, the Short-Tempered Boy, Pot Lid Head...
There was hope for all of them. He could rescue them one by one.
That hope filled him with energy, and even his steps grew unusually light.
"Huh, something still doesn't feel right..."
He didn't lose that spring in his step until he caught sight of himself in a nearby window. His expression tightened slightly as another question occurred to him.
The question had surfaced in his mind back in the Ancient Castle, but he hadn't had a chance to think it through.
He looked up at the glass directly across from him and clearly saw his own face reflected in it.
His features were whole.
Not only were both his eyes unharmed, but the hideous scar he'd had before was gone too.
This time, he had finally escaped the fate of losing an eye and being disfigured on the previous Life Path.
But the problem was...
The question in his mind now came fully into focus:
"When I was in the Ancient Castle just now, I think I managed to recite that incantation. I even twisted those bronze snakes that were lunging at me?"
"But the incantation's power activates the Mysterious Power left behind in my body. In the Ancient Castle, though, there shouldn't have been any of that monster's Mysterious Power left in my eyes. So how was I able to use the incantation to activate that power?"
"Even stranger..."
"Before, I used the Mysterious Power the monster left in my right eye to drive off the Ghost Truck, save Xu Ji, and save myself. Then, things naturally led to my being found and joining the Disaster Management Bureau."
"On this Life Path, I never lost that eye. So how did I drive off the Ghost Truck, just like I did on the previous Life Path, and end up at this point?"
Before you continue