The aftermath

Qiu Wuji's sudden act of robbery scuttled Chu Ge's plan to call the police.

Nobody carried cash these days, but this thief was a little different. Perhaps some transactions among people like him were best left untraceable, because he actually had cash on him. Ten thousand in crisp new bills, stuffed thickly into his trouser pocket, looked very much like a commission he had just received... He also had a gold chain and a Rolex.

Qiu Wuji knew money came in another form these days, so she wanted to threaten him into transferring some to her WeChat. Sweating buckets, Chu Ge firmly stopped her. "No matter how thoroughly you erase his memory or destroy his phone, once he discovers his money is gone, he can still find the transfer records through any number of means. Or if he ends up in police custody, they'll investigate his transaction history too. That's asking for trouble."

"Oh." Qiu Wuji reluctantly gave up. After thinking it over, she decided not to take the gold chain or watch either, since those would need fencing. She took only the cash, then decisively erased the thief's memory.

Qiu Wuji examined the thick wad of cash in her hand. "These are your banknotes?"

Chu Ge's face was expressionless. "Mm..."

"And their denominations correspond to those numbers in your WeChat?"

"Mm..."

"Then this is quite good. Faster than earning money by writing books." Qiu Wuji brightened. "I can pay you back now. I told you I could earn money."

Chu Ge said, "...Yes."

Qiu Wuji carried the unconscious thief outside. "I thought it over. Leaving his memory at the moment he entered your home still isn't ideal. Better to cut it off somewhere farther away. He suddenly lost consciousness and has no idea who attacked him, with nothing about our residential complex left in his memory either. You don't need to report it to the authorities. Just let him wake up on his own, and it will have absolutely nothing to do with us. If you insist the authorities should arrest him, you can report that you found someone unconscious outside. Either way, it has nothing to do with us..."

Chu Ge followed her out with his arms folded. Seeing the white light still shrouding her hand, carefully preventing her from leaving any trace of contact with the thief, he was speechless for a long while.

Why are you so practiced at this...? Right, it's Daddy's fault for not writing you properly.

But there's no helping it. Cultivation novels these days are full of brutal struggles. You can't survive otherwise... Sigh...

The streets were quiet at noon. Qiu Wuji cast an Invisibility Spell and brazenly dumped the thief in a roadside green belt two streets away.

Watching from well behind her, Chu Ge figured he probably wouldn't need to call the police himself. Although they were far from the city center, this wasn't some deserted wilderness. There was a shopping district nearby, with plenty of people around. Someone lying in that green belt was very conspicuous. Passersby would spot him within minutes, and someone would naturally call the police.

Come to think of it, if a thief like this had stumbled into an ordinary person's home instead of Qiu Wuji's den of horrors, that person would have suffered... A bastard like this couldn't simply be left to his own devices. Better to hand him over to the police.

He stood watching from a distance for a while. Sure enough, someone soon spotted the thief and ran to fetch a security guard from the entrance of a nearby residential complex. The guard checked him over, then immediately called the police. Chu Ge let out a soft breath.

Standing beside him, Qiu Wuji saw his relief and suddenly asked, "What is it? Feeling uneasy?"

"Mm..."

"Because I robbed him?"

"That's part of it. Anyway, please don't do this again in our world. Sooner or later, something will go wrong, unless you actually head off to some war-torn place and become a big shot-and honestly, I wouldn't want that either."

"But you didn't firmly stop me. Wasn't that because you wanted money too?"

Chu Ge looked up and thought for a moment, then shook his head. "No. I need money, but I don't want to get it this way. Mm... Maybe you think there's nothing wrong with taking ill-gotten wealth, and cultivators stealing treasures from each other is commonplace. But it still goes against what I was taught growing up."

Qiu Wuji looked a little surprised. Isn't the way I act a result of what you wrote...?

Then Chu Ge laughed and continued, "But you think that way because of how I designed your world. Maybe that's what I really think deep down, hahaha. So I didn't know how to stop you either. Like I said, I'm worried you'll get addicted to easy money and get into trouble by doing it too often, not about this particular incident. Honestly, teaching a thief like that a lesson felt pretty satisfying, haha..."

Qiu Wuji nodded slightly. "Mm, understood. I'll be careful... You said that was only part of it. Then what's the main reason? Because you've come into contact with the supernatural world?"

"Yes." Chu Ge gazed at the distant sky and said quietly, "Maybe everyone has a dream deep down of a supernatural world, or of martial heroes and immortals. We imagine leaving our ordinary lives behind, roaming the world with a sword, capable of anything... But when something like that actually happens, I don't know how many people discover they only liked the idea. I'm certainly a little like that. The feeling that a perfectly good life is about to be turned upside down naturally makes me uneasy."

He paused, then gave a self-mocking smile. "I'm just an ordinary guy who's lived an ordinary life for twenty-odd years."

Qiu Wuji tilted her head and studied him for a long while, then suddenly said, "But deep down, you yearn for it too. Hence the conflict." "Yeah. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little excited to give it a try. But that's what makes it so contradictory."

"Heh... A man who can create a world, who can create a living being who comes to his home and cooks for him, calls himself an ordinary person." Qiu Wuji smiled. "If my Father God is merely an ordinary person, wouldn't that make the masses no better than pigs and dogs?"

Chu Ge said, "...I don't even know how you got out. It's not as if I have any ability."

"So what? When others awaken innate supernatural abilities, is that through any ability of their own? Those gifts all fall into their laps. Some use them for petty schemes, some to display their talents, and some are content with a quiet life, enjoying themselves. Isn't the kind of life you lead entirely your own choice?" Qiu Wuji said calmly, "Your unease stems from nothing more than weakness. If you were strong enough, who could dictate how you lived?"

Chu Ge looked into her eyes. You're strong enough. You nearly cut down even your Father God and forced him to change your fate. Is that it?

Qiu Wuji seemed to guess what he was thinking. They held each other's gaze for a moment, then smiled at the same time.

Sirens sounded in the distance. The police had arrived.

They stopped talking and watched the police handcuff the thief, question the security guard who had been dragged into the affair, and retrieve the complex's surveillance footage, all in orderly fashion.

To Chu Ge's surprise, he spotted someone he knew.

Lin Wuyang.

Chu Ge didn't know much about how the police system worked, and he found it rather puzzling. This guy hadn't attended a police academy. They had been classmates in Chinese Language and Literature. Passing the civil service exam should have landed him a desk job, so why was he responding to a call like this?

And he even seemed to be a minor supervisor, pacing around with his hands behind his back as though examining the scene, with two junior officers following him.

After circling halfway around, Lin Wuyang spotted Chu Ge among the distant onlookers and paused in surprise. "You live here?"

"No, a few streets away. I was passing by and stopped to watch." Before Lin Wuyang approached, Qiu Wuji had already slipped away without a sound. There were plenty of onlookers, and Chu Ge felt no guilt about blending into the crowd. He greeted him openly. "You transferred to the Criminal Police?"

"Mm... More or less." Lin Wuyang didn't go into detail. His flippant attitude from their earlier online chatter was long gone. Now he was solemn and focused. "Have you seen anything strange these past few days, or any unfamiliar faces coming and going?"

"I don't even know everyone in my own building, never mind two streets away. Who knows which faces count as unfamiliar?" Chu Ge said irritably. "Ask anyone else and you'll get the same answer. That's just how things are these days."

Lin Wuyang nodded. That was true. This wasn't like the old neighborhoods, where people knew everyone even across the street. Who knew anyone these days? What counted as an unfamiliar face...? Besides, the man had been dumped beside a public road. Even the nearby residential complex might have nothing to do with it. Surveillance footage would be more reliable.

As they spoke, an officer hurried over, looking grave. "Section Chief Lin, we've checked the footage."

Lin Wuyang glanced at Chu Ge. "We'll talk when I have time. Work comes first."

Chu Ge waved. "Sure. Section Chief Lin already, huh... Next time, you're buying dinner."

Lin Wuyang smiled and left with the officer.

He wasn't putting on airs. Outsiders naturally couldn't listen in while the police discussed a case, whether it involved supernatural events or ordinary ones. Those were the rules. He hoped Chu Ge wouldn't think he was showing off. After spending enough time in society, he had come to appreciate how much friendships with old classmates were worth cherishing. At least they were much more genuine.

The officer beside him was reporting quietly, "That man just suddenly appeared in the green belt. There wasn't a soul in sight before or after. He simply appeared out of nowhere."

"Understood." Lin Wuyang let out a soft breath. "Let's head back... We've been secretly hunting the Wall-Passer for so long without a lead. Who would have thought he'd end up caught here by accident? Following this lead, I think we'll have pretty much enough to wrap up the file on President Gu's side too."

"And the person who dumped him here..."

"We'll discuss that after we question him back at the station. Best if it was a falling-out between criminals... Even if there really is another unknown ability user, this looks like an attempt to do the police a favor. Under the policy guidelines, if someone wants to live their own life peacefully, we're not allowed to interfere without cause. We have to protect citizens' privacy and legitimate rights. Prying further won't help."

Chu Ge also turned and squeezed out of the crowd to look for Qiu Wuji. The moment he emerged, he saw a girl dressed in black standing beneath a utility pole in the distance, quietly watching the commotion.

Seeing him look over, the girl turned away and vanished in an instant.

(End of chapter)

If you enjoyed this book, please remember to add it to your bookshelf so you can find it again next time.