Debt

After personally experiencing that underground adventure, Jiang Xueming got himself a long, leisurely vacation.

The cold, gaunt man was no longer seen at the braised-food shop by the Hung Hom subway station.

His manager had called him more than a dozen times to ask when he was coming back to work, but his phone's spam-call filter had blocked every call.

At this point, he had no intention of returning to the job he had once depended on to make a living.

The numbers in his bank account were like a string of delightful incantations, gradually wiping the worry from this ordinary man's face.

[Transfer received: 3000000]

[Sender: Paramount Entertainment Media Co., Ltd.]

[Transfer note: Happy holidays]

[Balance: 7751550.79]

There was still a surplus of seven million in his account, which made him feel both relieved and uneasy.

He was relieved because in any small city, this sum of money would let the two siblings live in peace for most of their lives.

He was uneasy because he couldn't understand the hidden meaning behind the BOSS's generosity. Even the message "Happy holidays" felt like it had some deeper implication.

Back on the train, Xue Ming had spoken frankly with the BOSS about this.

He had boarded the train bound for an unknown destination because his sister's life was at stake, and he had been clutching at straws.

Now that Jiang Bailu was healthy and their family had no worries about food or clothing, he couldn't think of any reason to end this [vacation] specially granted by the station.

After receiving the transfer notice at the hospital, he had taken his sister, Jiang Bailu, back to their new home.

Since Xue Ming no longer had a job, the two siblings had returned home and begun staring at each other with nothing to do. The only one who had followed them home was Seventh Brother, who wandered around the house.

"Wandered" was the perfect word for it. Unlike the quiet siblings, she acted as if she already knew them well. She hadn't even changed her shoes after coming in, and Xue Ming hadn't prepared any slippers for her.

She padded around barefoot, pacing back and forth between the living room and bedroom. She couldn't sit still for a moment, and walked with the steadiness of someone professionally trained in poise—especially striking in that red dress.

In the middle of summer, it felt as if the temperature in the house had dropped several degrees thanks to the "female ghost" drifting around.

Bailu chewed on a finger, looking bored. She glanced at her brother.

Her brother was thinking about something, so she didn't want to disturb him.

She looked at the strange Xiao Qi-jiejie instead.

One moment, Xiao Qi-jiejie would stare blankly at the bed in the bedroom; the next, she would grin foolishly at the paperweight on the desk.

Under the paperweight was a photo of Brother Xue Ming as a child. He looked pretty cute, but Xiao Qi-jiejie's expression was kind of scary.

It was just like the sinister old cat woman from the stories Bailu had heard as a child, who ate children.

She didn't dare ask about it. She just sat obediently beside Xue Ming, waiting for him to finish thinking.

When it grew dark and dinnertime arrived, Jiang Xueming got up to prepare dinner.

Seventh Brother was already standing by the refrigerator. With the air of a hostess, she smiled and said,

"Making dinner? I'll help!"

Jiang Xueming said nothing, only giving Xiao Qi a suspicious look.

He had let Xiao Qi in as a last gesture of courtesy. He had thought that at least this woman had helped him at the station.

But now it seemed Seventh Brother was planning to move in for good.

There were only two beds in the house, and nowhere extra for Seventh Brother to sleep.

No matter what, Xue Ming didn't feel comfortable letting Bailu share a bed with her.

After all, this woman had once joked—half-seriously, right in front of him—with Bu Liuxing about poisoning and kidnapping. With his ordinary-person mindset, he found it hard to understand how these thrill-seekers operated.

Heaven knew what Seventh Brother might do in this house.

Still, he wasn't completely heartless.

In a few short seconds, Xue Ming's gaze shifted from stern vigilance to letting down his guard.

"Okay."

Xiao Qi: "What should I get?"

Jiang Xueming: "Dried tofu sheets, Chinese kale, pork bones, and six ears of corn, please."

Xiao Qi did as she was told, following him into the kitchen with quick, nimble movements.

Jiang Xueming put on an apron and repeatedly wiped his knife.

He saw Xiao Qi dump the ingredients on the counter, then spread her arms like a woman waiting for her sweetheart to tie her apron. She looked full of anticipation. "I'm ready! I'm ready! Tie it for me!"

He handed the apron to her with the utmost respect.

"Xiao Qi, put it on yourself."

"Mm." Hearing his chilly response, Seventh Brother immediately looked aggrieved. The corners of her mouth drooped, and she looked unhappy.

Just then, Jiang Bailu appeared and smoothed things over for her clueless older brother, helping Xiao Qi tie on the apron.

"Don't mind him! My brother's always like this. He doesn't feel safe easily."

"Bailu." Jiang Xueming didn't want his sister to have anything to do with these underground visitors. This meal was meant to be a farewell dinner. "Go wait outside."

"Okay." Jiang Bailu secretly made a face at her brother.

Xue Ming closed the kitchen door behind him, prepared the ingredients, trimmed the meat from the pork bones, then chopped the corn, brought the soup to a boil over high heat, and rinsed the rice before setting it to cook.

He took the opportunity to ask, "What are you planning to do next?"

Xiao Qi watched from the side, helping Xue Ming wash the vegetables.

"Nothing. I just want to spend some time with you."

Jiang Xueming continued, "Don't you have a job?"

Xiao Qi's hands were wet as she drained the vegetables. She tossed the unwanted scraps into the trash. "There aren't many new passengers at the station. My supervisor knows what I've been doing and approved my leave."

He divided the scraps of meat from the bones into two piles, one lean and one fatty, and set them on the other end of the cutting board. Jiang Xueming continued, "And after that? Are you going to stay at my place? You're not planning to leave?"

"Can I?!" Xiao Qi's eyes lit up, and her heart began to race. She started throwing both the good vegetables and the bad ones into the trash.

Before the vegetable stems she had sorted out could hit the ground, Jiang Xueming caught them securely and swept them back into the basket.

Xue Ming was succinct. "No. I'm not looking for a roommate."

"Are you afraid I'll bring something bad from underground into your home?" Xiao Qi's expression changed. She glanced toward the door behind her. "Are you afraid I'll hurt your sister?"

Hot oil went into the bottom of the wok, and the fatty pork was cooked with ginger and scallions until fragrant.

Xue Ming stirred with the spatula, waiting for the cracklings to turn golden. Then he added the lean meat and tofu sheets.

The sizzling of the wok and the roar of the range hood drowned out their conversation.

Jiang Bailu was hiding outside the door with her ear pressed against it, but she couldn't hear a thing.

Disappointed, she slunk back to the sofa and began rubbing her phone screen, wondering when her brother would bring home a beautiful, rich sister-in-law.

Only then did Jiang Xueming answer.

"Why don't you ask what I'm planning to do next?"

Xiao Qi had finished helping and had nothing else to do. She stood beside Xue Ming, staring at him blankly. "So what are you planning to do next?"

"Finish this meal with you."

"And then?"

"Then you'll drive home, and I'll get ready to move somewhere else."

"And then?"

"I'll find a new place, preferably near Bailu's school, and get her settled."

"Mm. I can take her to and from school."

"You don't need to. I have plenty of free time now. I can take her myself."

Xiao Qi: "We can take her together!"

Jiang Xueming ignored that and continued—

"—I need to go back to my hometown."

"Do you want me to come with you to meet your parents? I'm great at that!" Xiao Qi said eagerly. "So, what kind of person do your parents like? Someone more innocent, or more flashy? A Xing told me your family lives in the countryside and is pretty traditional. Should I pad my butt to make it look bigger? I'll look like I can bear children."

Jiang Xueming covered his face, suddenly feeling like there was no way to keep this conversation going. "When you say things like that, you sound like a hired girlfriend going home for New Year's. Can't we have a little distance between us?"

"Distance?" Xiao Qi smacked her lips and thought about it for a moment, then hid in the shower room. "Is this what you mean?"

"No." Jiang Xueming felt utterly helpless. "I mean, we've only known each other for a few days. We're not that close, right?"

Xiao Qi turned around and came back. She rubbed her temples, not quite understanding what Xue Ming meant.

After he explained, she remembered what Sister Yangchun had told her about not rushing things with a man, and finally understood.

Jiang Xueming explained what he planned to do next. "I'm going back to my hometown. Specifically, I'm going back to settle a debt."

Xiao Qi began to worry about Xue Ming, too. "What kind of debt do you owe? Did you borrow money before? A loan shark?"

Jiang Xueming shook his head and scooped the pork and tofu sheets out of the wok. "It's not a loan shark. It's a bit complicated. My parents were going to sell Bailu off for a bride price, so I ran away with her. The wanted notices they put up made them look like gangsters. They said they'd break Bailu's legs and mine, and then we'd never be able to run away again."

He handed the plate to Seventh Brother.

Xue Ming continued cooking the vegetables.

"The debt I owe is a debt of blood. Now I'm going to settle it."

"Oh." Seventh Brother breathed in the aroma of the food, not quite taking in what he meant at first. Then she asked, "That does sound pretty complicated."

"Don't worry." After telling her his plans, Jiang Xueming added why he had to do it. "Bailu still has so many places she wants to visit. I'll make sure I take care of this."

Xiao Qi kindly reminded him, "Xue Ming! Speaking of that! There's something else I need to warn you about!"

Jiang Xueming: "I'm listening."

Seeing that the vegetables were nearly ready, Xiao Qi had already prepared another plate.

She continued, "You're a passenger in the underground world. The moment you boarded the train, you became inseparable from it."

Jiang Xueming's expression changed dramatically. "What do you mean?"

"If you plan to go off on your own, you'd better bring something to defend yourself," Xiao Qi said, speaking extremely slowly so Jiang Xueming wouldn't miss a word. "You and I both have unusually high [Inspiration]. When you return from underground to the ordinary world, you're in a place the BOSS doesn't control, and there aren't enough armed guards around to protect you."

Jiang Xueming hurriedly asked, "Will I be in danger?"

Xiao Qi thought carefully. "Because your [Inspiration] is exceptional, you might get caught up in strange incidents. And there's also the fact that you've done work for the station."

"Explain those things one at a time, in more detail." Jiang Xueming finished up the remaining kitchen work, then took Xiao Qi by the arm and led her back to the living room.

At the dinner table, Xiao Qi gave him a knowing look, glancing toward Bailu and pursing her lips at Jiang Xueming.

Jiang Xueming served rice to both girls. "It's fine. You don't need to avoid talking about it."

"I mentioned one of those things just now. It has to do with the [Inspiration] of passengers at the underground station," Xiao Qi patiently explained, holding her bowl and chopsticks. "When we're children, most of us go through a period when our [Inspiration] opens up. All kinds of urban legends, including ghosts and spirits, and even things like supernatural abilities, might actually be real."

Even at the dinner table, Jiang Xueming didn't sit idle. He opened his phone and got down to work, taking notes.

Xiao Qi continued.

"As we grow older, the frequency of our brain waves changes, and our hearing declines, too. There are a lot of things we can no longer see. In occult terms, they call it 'seeing ghosts.' Mr. Xue Ming, one of those things is that you might see strange [spirits] in the ordinary world. You call them ghosts, but that's not what they are. There are spiritual powers and [Inspiration] in this world. Even the tickets we gave you before were something you could only see if your [Inspiration] was above the passing threshold."

Jiang Xueming: "Will they be dangerous?"

Xiao Qi explained, "Of course. If you deliberately stare at people on the street with a look that begs to be punched, they might come up and slap you twice. Spirits are no different."

Jiang Xueming was beginning to understand what she meant.

Once passengers who had visited the Nine Realms Station returned to the ordinary world, they could pretty much say goodbye to a normal life.

—From then on, even going downstairs to buy groceries meant wondering whether the guy selling chicken legs was actually alive.

"As for the second thing," Xiao Qi said, shoveling food into her mouth, "there have been passengers in the station's history like you, who only wanted to take the train once and do one job. After the BOSS paid them, they wanted to return to the ordinary world and live a normal life like you."

"But among the other longtime passengers, there's a small number of people who are both stupid and evil. They return to the ordinary world and try to rob or kill these new passengers."

"Why?" Jiang Xueming couldn't understand. "The BOSS pays generously. They shouldn't be short on money. Is it because of the Universal Elixir?"

At last, he remembered that the BOSS had handed him the Universal Elixir in front of everyone at the Council of Five Kings. The thought gave him goosebumps.

"The cards for the Polarized Sextant are made with a design that prevents people from peeking, just to guard against those traitors. The equipment for checking new passengers is kept on the second floor to protect them, too. If people could casually find out your mental state and combat skills, they'd have bad ideas." Xiao Qi explained further. "It's not just the Universal Elixir. More importantly, it's your passenger log. You know the BOSS is willing to pay an equivalent reward for these logs, which shows just how important the information in them is."

Jiang Xueming furrowed his brow and said nothing.

Xiao Qi waved her chopsticks, her gaze sharp.

"We call these notorious traitors who attack passengers 'Armadillo Hunters,' because armadillos and humans have only one thing in common—they both carry leprosy bacteria. They're close to Madness Butterfly. Some of them might have taken this evil path for the Universal Elixir, but many are simply calamities who kill for fun."

"They search for you in the ordinary world, capture you, and use your family and friends to threaten you. They'll use every means to dig out every bit of information you know, then kill you and use that information to profit in the underground world."

"The BOSS also said it wouldn't let anyone with mental problems return to the ordinary world. But there are always a few who slip through because they're good at hiding it. The BOSS assigns a separate attendant to each passenger to keep them from getting into trouble in the ordinary world."

Jiang Xueming asked, "Do you know how to deal with these people? Seventh Brother? Tell me. The attendants the BOSS assigns us are insurance for new passengers, so—"

Xiao Qi smiled. "What did you just call me?"

"Seventh Brother. Oh, no." Jiang Xueming corrected himself. "Xiao Qi."

After dinner, Xiao Qi placed the dishes and chopsticks neatly back on the table without wasting a single grain of rice.

She pulled a Summoning Bell out from the bodice of her long dress.

"I originally thought that since you weren't going back underground, I wouldn't be of any use to the BOSS anymore. I'd meet you one last time, then move on. Sister Yangchun and I already agreed she'd assign me another passenger next month. Anyway, the BOSS would send other armed personnel to protect you. It'd just be for show, but they definitely wouldn't be as good in a fight as me. Our attendants' entrance exams are really strict. But since you're being so distant, I guess it wouldn't be convenient. I won't force it. You can't make a melon sweet by twisting it off the vine, after all. I'm leaving! If you need me, just ring the bell. I'll be there as soon as I hear it."

"Wait. Hold on, my friend!" Jiang Xueming called after Xiao Qi. "Can we talk about what we were discussing before?!"

Xiao Qi asked, "Which thing?"

Jiang Xueming did his best to put on a smile.

"About what you should wear when you come home to meet my parents."

Jiang Bailu had been listening to her older brother and sister talk in code for ages, but she hadn't understood a word of it.

She had only understood the last sentence, and figured her brother really had found himself a girlfriend.

"Yay!"