A Man Who Abused Himself

The idea of "collective karma of all beings" mentioned by the intelligence officer is quite interesting.

--Xue Ming, and realized that Fafnir, the corrupted dragon in the Skull and Bones Society, also relied on the Homo sapiens essence provided by the Skull and Bones Society to perform the ritual of resurrection.

Based on the Research Station's study of the decaying dragon's corpse, the dragon's brain structure is very similar to that of a human brain. It is probably no longer a saurid, but a humanoid monster, which can also be considered a kind of artificial Spirit Calamity.

BOSS once said that its act of building railways was to climb onto the high-speed train of human civilization in order to complete its own pursuit of its own path.

Homo sapiens civilization serves as an excellent medium and fundamental element for various psionic disasters.

Without Homo sapiens, the Blessed Holy Blood would merely be a pathogen, seeking other hosts, but certainly not as powerful as it is today. According to historical records of the Great Rift of All Things, its formula underwent more than 1,500 years of updates and iterations before evolving in the bodies of Homo sapiens into the Blessed Holy Blood that is so powerful today with relatively mild toxic side effects.

"As Earth has evolved to this point, the morphology of most biological populations in the natural environment is almost entirely determined by humans. Human activities can determine temperature, sea level, and even the survival of a species." The intelligence officer discussed a broader topic with Xue Ming: "As apex predators, only the viruses that have fought us for hundreds of millions of years remain on the other side of the chessboard—other creatures, like dinosaurs from 35 million years ago, have now become chickens, food on our tables. They are the most numerous creatures in the world, and of course, it's because humans need chicken meat that the chicken population is so exaggerated. This is also the result of the collective karma of all living beings."

Xue Ming took notes, then casually asked, "Sir, may I not ask your name? I'd like to know your surname and given name, as well as your contact information—I'm afraid I'll need to ask you for advice on many things in the future."

"You're a passenger at the Nine Realms Station, right?" The intelligence officer pulled a business card from his pocket and handed it to Xue Ming. "I saw the outline of a stick protruding from the waterproof leather of your bundle. You must be a passenger at the Nine Realms Station —you want my contact information because you're in an unknown environment and need my advice, right?"

Xue Ming obediently accepted the business card, feeling as if this mysterious Tian Shu intelligence agent had read her mind.

Jason Megan's intelligence skills are exceptional.

However, he would not rashly reveal what others were thinking, and even if he knew some secrets, he would not immediately speak them out.

Ye Bei's intelligence agent was like a translator, unafraid of offending strangers, casually revealing all his thoughts and ideas—giving off a sense of showing off his knowledge.

But Xue Ming really liked this way of communicating.

He could sense that there was a very powerful energy in this small man's body. Even without spiritual pressure, he seemed like an ordinary person, but his proud and confident demeanor was rare in the human world and even in the underworld.

He picked up the business card and glanced at it briefly.

This intelligence officer's surname is Su, and his given name is Su Xingchen.

Information is very limited, only the contact information for private detective agencies, such as the front manipulators or fake identities used by agencies like Tian Shu against the Spirit Calamity Force.

She's thirty-three years old; you wouldn't guess it.

If you told Xue Ming this boy was thirteen, she might believe it.

Because he looks so young, like he hasn't even started puberty yet, as if his puberty was already over.

Xingchen was smoking at the tea table, and the way he puffed out smoke made him look like a seasoned veteran, which surprised Xue Ming. Several times, Xueming almost mistook him for a rebellious middle school student who was pretending to be fierce while smoking and arguing.

"Little brother, are you wondering why I look so young? Could I be Chang Ghost like your brother Ye Bei?" Su Xingchen saw right through Xue Ming's thoughts. He then pulled out a knife and began peeling an apple for the customer. "It's not what you think. The operators of Tian Shu usually have some special characteristics. My body was damaged by a Spirit Calamity when I was thirteen years old, and my development stopped. But I still experience birth, aging, sickness, and death, just like this apple."

When the red and white peel of an apple falls into the trash can, the apple, without the protection of its outer skin, will quickly oxidize and turn yellow.

Su Xingchen continued, "We rely on oxygen to live, and oxygen also makes us age. Your older brother can live without breathing; he has already left this beautiful world. But like you, I will slowly rot like this yellowing fruit."

Xue Ming was about to ask about the Chang Ghost, because the BOSS's subordinates were also Chang Ghost. If he rashly used the Red Mountain Stone, he might become the BOSS's Chang Ghost. Taowu's essence was not like Qiongqi's. It possessed so many people, so many things, so many White Lady and so many Madness Butterfly in the entire Nine Realms Station. It was almost impossible for ordinary people to fight against this level of mental pollution.

The reason why Brother Ye Bei was able to maintain his sanity was probably because Qiongqi was now extremely weak, with its true form only forty centimeters tall, and Xue Ming could render it unable to move with just his hands.

Information about the Chang Ghost is also recorded in "The Great Rift of All Things". This kind of monster is inhuman and completely obeys the orders of the evil beast. It is like a limb that has been extended from the evil beast. It has been assimilated by the evil beast's powerful bioelectric field and spiritual essence, and can no longer be considered human.

Before he could ask a question--

Su Xingchen immediately said, "Your expression suggests you're thinking about Ye Bei 'Chang Ghost form?"

Xue Ming notes and wrote down a new title, "Yes."

Then, Su Xingchen told a very long story.

A few years ago, Ye Bei was a wandering exorcist who traveled between the realms of the living and the dead, a half-baked one without a business license.

With the help of Chen Fugui's paper offering shop, he worked tirelessly with customers during the day and battled vengeful ghosts at night. He had also long since awakened his soul power.

It wasn't until Tian Shu arranged for the Qiongqi beast to be the protagonist, who was kind-hearted and unafraid of hardship, that Ye Bei's soul power was able to deal with this irritable monster with extraordinary spiritual power.

The beverages served in the VIP tea room are Soulway products provided by Boss Ye.

It's called [Worry-forgetting Tea]. Its ability is to repair damage to the spiritual essence, allowing people to say goodbye to sleep and work non-stop for hours on end, and also to return to a state of mental breakdown and near-madness.

This tea is extremely rare, because Ye Bei cannot use his Soul Power to make Worry-forgetting Tea 24 hours a day. He was assigned to Tian Shu's [Special Operations Group] to serve as an emergency combat unit at any time to handle strange Spirit Calamity on the surface.

The story with Xue Ming has already been told once, so there's no need to repeat it here.

The reason for helping Xue Ming was simple: it wasn't because Xue Ming was any promising talent, but simply because Ye Bei usually helped those in need, nothing more.

After learning these things, Xue Ming's pen stopped abruptly, the period remaining on the diary page lingering on the paper for a long time.

He thanked Su Xingchen, then ran to clean up the clay models in the kitchen and prepared breakfast.

In just over ten minutes, Ye Bei came down from the second floor, answering a phone call while telling Su Xingchen to be quiet.

After Brother Ye Bei finished his phone call, he took two ears of corn from the table, intending to feed Qiongqi, and immediately headed out.

Xue Ming wanted to call his older brother to have a meal together.

But Big Brother Ye Bei seems extremely busy. Hengyin is like Gotham City, and Big Brother Ye Bei is its Batman, its guardian. How could he possibly be idle?

"Where are you going, brother!"

Ye Bei: "Something came up."

Su Xingchen also stood up, preparing to follow them out.

Ye Bei patted his old partner on the shoulder. "Hey, thank goodness you came, otherwise I wouldn't have been able to handle this."

Su Xingchen: "Is it Spirit Calamity?"

Xue Ming followed her out. "Are there Spirit Calamity during the day too?"

Ye Bei pressed the car key and saw a pink leopard-print Cadillac pull out of the garage.

"No, we'll talk about it on the way."

Xue Ming sat in the back row, feeling uneasy. He was worried that it would be impolite not to wish his sister-in-law a Happy New Year.

Xingchen reached out and shoved the phone into her hand. "Here, speak up yourself."

Then I heard a sweet and mature female voice coming from the phone.

"Hello? Chen Kun?"

Xue Ming was both amused and exasperated. "Sister-in-law, it's me. It's Jiang Xueming."

The older woman on the other end of the phone scratched her head loudly. "Isn't that Chen Kun? The guy who's a tiny bit more handsome than my husband. Happy New Year! Did you bring anything? I searched the first floor for ages, and there wasn't even anything under the carpet! I even went to the storage room, and there was nothing there! You have the nerve to come into my house empty-handed?"

Beep--

Ye Bei hung up the phone casually, and said with a grin.

"Don't mind her, that's just my wife's temper."

Xue Ming lowered his head, not daring to speak, and after a long while, he managed to stammer out, "I came in a hurry last night, I originally wanted to go to the fruit market."

Su Xingchen took her phone back and Xue Ming, "It's fine to bring it today."

Then, the three of them started talking about serious business.

Ye Bei drove with one hand and held up his phone with the other, showing his call logs.

"Today is the Lantern Festival. There was an uncle at the train station looking for someone. He wanted to know who the most powerful and capable local bully was, so the driver and the urban management officer gave him my phone number."

Su Xingchen: "What is it?"

Ye Bei: "He lost his child."

Upon hearing this, Xue Ming suddenly became excited.

"Big brother! Can you find it?"

Ye Bei shrugged. "I have no idea what's going on! The property management at Chuangfu Plaza called me more than ten times this morning. I was just about to hand in my homework, and the teacher was urging me on with a pointer! I had just taken off my clothes when..."

Su Xingchen: "Ahem. I don't want to hear about your private life."

Ye Bei laughed heartily, "Sorry, but seriously..."

Xue Ming repeated like a broken record, "Can you find it?!"

During the time spent waiting at the red light--

Ye Bei and Xing Chen both looked at the young man in the back seat.

The two exchanged a perfectly synchronized glance, as if they understood each other without needing to say a word.

Qiongqi, sandwiched in the middle, sat on the lid of the storage compartment and glanced back at Xue Ming.

Whether we can find it or not, let's do our best.

Xue Ming stared at the ferocious beast in astonishment.

Qiongqi curled its lip, looking reluctant, and said, "Being able to live with one's parents is a blessing for most viviparous animals. Humans' unique reproductive method means that infants are born hastily before they have a chance to grow up—from infancy to adulthood, this family relationship has created the entire history of Homo sapiens civilization. I think this is the truest and most beautiful thing."

On the way to the train station, Ye Bei briefly explained the sudden request to Xue Ming.

An elderly father, who frequently appears at Hengyin Railway Station, is searching for his child who has been lost for many years.

Hengyin is an important hub in the four horizontal and four vertical railway network. In earlier times, it was also the location for cracking down on organized crime, as many criminals changed trains or met here for transactions.

The city's persistently high crime rate is partly attributable to its traffic conditions.

This uncle is quite old, fifty-nine years old this year, and has been searching for his child for eighteen years.

The main means of transportation are public buses and ridesharing. Occasionally, I ride in the mountains or repair diesel tractors for others. I pick up individual orders at the after-sales service station, deliver the repaired tractors to customers' homes in the mountains and rural areas, and then head to the next location along the way.

Uncle often returns to Hengyin City, where the railway system connects directly to all parts of the country, making it very convenient. Over time, it has become an important stopover in the search for his child.

Until the Lantern Festival this year, the elderly father who lost his child once again sought help from the police and citizens, and people sent him Ye Bei's contact information.

Xue Ming: "Big brother, do you usually get involved in these kinds of things?"

Ye Bei replied casually, "If you have the ability, you should try to do it. I've helped many, many people and know many, many people. Like you, if one day some naughty kid barges into a Gundam toy store and starts causing trouble, and the parents end up paying tens of thousands of yuan in damages, and they don't have the means, I might ask you to fix it."

"I'll definitely come if I have time." Xue Ming nodded, then immediately asked, "Is it to repair toys or to fix a child?"

Ye Bei: "You fix the toys."

Su Xingchen: "He repairs children."

It's only a 40-minute drive from Pingyang County to Hengyin Railway Station via the expressway.

The three people and one cat entered the reception room of the Chuangfu Hotel and saw a spirited uncle sitting in the corridor smoking.

Ye Bei immediately went to greet him, "Uncle! Did you look for me?"

The uncle then stood up, his motion of taking a cigarette from his clothes fluid and natural, as if he had done it countless times before.

One box of Huanghelou liquor was brand new, while the other box of Soft Baisha was crumpled.

The uncle didn't say anything, just waited for the important person to offer him a cigarette.

Ye Bei thought for a moment and picked out a cigarette from Baisha's cigarette case.

"Thank you!"

Su Xingchen didn't mind at all, took the Huanghelou, and casually slipped fifty yuan into his hand.

"I was just thinking of buying it, and I'm so grateful to have you run the errand for me!"

The uncle was stunned for a moment, then suddenly tears streamed down his face. He realized that these two people were truly the kind and good people that the city management officer and the driver had described.

He offered Xue Ming a cigarette, Xue Ming shook his head.

"I don't smoke. Uncle, you're always out and about, you shouldn't smoke anymore. Finding your children is the priority, don't let them see you looking so sickly."

The uncle nodded vigorously, and you could see age spots etched by oil and dust beneath his sun-darkened, yellowed skin.

His eyes were bright, his brows were always furrowed, and his shoulders were very broad, as if he had been carrying heavy loads on a long journey. His jacket was new, but his undershirt was old. He stood as straight as if cast in iron.

The pants were thick and waterproof, and the soles of the boots had several layers of rubber, showing how many miles they had walked.

Next to the bench was a large backpack containing clean bedding and a dirty sleeping bag, a missing child banner that had just been replaced at an advertising store, and two selfie stick stands bought from Pinduoduo to support the red background and white lettering.

There was a very expensive megaphone and a very cheap old lunchbox.

I spent a lot of time, but had very little family affection.