A forced confession

The old Hongqi sedan headed toward Ba City.

"Luo, were those archaeological experts really affected by some kind of energy? They weren't sick?" Ye Yiming still couldn't understand it. It was too mysterious, beyond anything he knew.

Luo Yang nodded without explaining further.

From a shaman's perspective, it was an "evil spirit," of the same nature as the spirituality within Grandmaster Yingma's Golden Bronze Mask. The difference was that it was more powerful and aggressive. Whether the former or the latter, both were essentially energies possessing spirituality, but there was no way to explain something like that to Ye Yiming.

"What kind of energy was it, exactly?" Ye Yiming pressed.

Luo Yang smiled. "Uncle Ye, I'm not sure either. That's why I asked to visit the Sacrificial Pit. Unfortunately, Director Ma wouldn't agree."

Ye Yiming suddenly sighed. "Back when he worked under me, he did whatever I said. Now... once you're out of office, nobody cares anymore. Heh. I didn't make the proper arrangements. I just brought you along on impulse."

"You're being too hard on yourself, Uncle Ye," Luo Yang said. "Director Ma will invite me back. I'll get to the bottom of this."

"He was just being polite. You actually believe him?"

Luo Yang gave a calm smile. "I do, because I'm the only one who can handle it."

Ye Yiming smiled too. "I knew you could do it. I'll come with you again next time. I want to find out what's going on."

Suddenly, the old man changed the subject. "Luo, let me ask you something."

"What is it, Uncle Ye?"

Ye Yiming glanced at Luo Yang. "Well... how far have things gone between you and Ye Zi?"

Luo Yang froze. He hadn't expected the old man to ask about that.

Ye Yiming chuckled. "What's there to be embarrassed about?"

"Uncle Ye, Ye Zi and I are just friends."

"Friends?" Ye Yiming was clearly dissatisfied with that answer, then supplied his own interpretation. "I get it. Boyfriend and girlfriend. Is that what you mean?"

Luo Yang hurriedly denied it. "No, Uncle Ye. We're just ordinary friends."

Ye Yiming glanced at him again. "Ordinary friends? Then why did she leave Meiqi at your place instead of ours? And why does Meiqi have her own room there?"

Luo Yang: "..."

"Ye Zi is a good woman. You'd better cherish her. If you hurt her, I won't let you off. Got that?" There was love in Ye Yiming's words, but a threat too.

Luo Yang had no idea how to explain it to him anymore. The old man was clearly forcing a confession out of him.

"I asked you a question. Why aren't you answering?" Ye Yiming's gaze turned a little fierce.

Luo Yang nodded. "Oh. Yes, yes."

Ye Yiming smiled.

In the end, he had forced a confession out of him after all.

Ye Yiming and Jiang Xianrong really did trust him. They left right after dinner, leaving their granddaughter behind and dumping her straight into Luo Yang's care.

After seeing the elderly couple off, Luo Yang returned and received a WeChat video call request on his phone.

It was from Ye Zi.

Luo Yang answered the call. Ye Zi's face appeared on the screen, her eyes dark and bright, her nose small and straight. Even without makeup, she looked exquisitely beautiful.

She stood on a sand dune, with a stretch of saline-alkali land behind her. The brown ground resembled a motionless sea, covered in countless waves. In some places, patches of white crystals glittered in the sunlight. Farther away, rolling dunes and rocks formed a spectacular, otherworldly yardang landform, making it seem as though she wasn't on Earth at all.

"Ye Zi, where is that?" Luo Yang asked curiously. "It's already evening. How is the sun still out?"

Ye Zi smiled beautifully. "This is Mangya in Qingdi. It doesn't get dark here until ten at night. What do you think? Spectacular scenery, isn't it? You should come see our country's magnificent landscapes."

"I definitely will when I get the chance." Luo Yang smiled back.

Their eyes met, and somehow neither had anything left to say.

Even more inexplicably, Old Man Ye's face popped into Luo Yang's mind, along with that "forced confession." At the time, he had felt there was no explaining things, so he had nodded and murmured a couple of agreements just to humor him. Yet now, facing Ye Zi, he couldn't stop his mind from imagining the possibility of their relationship becoming a done deal.

If she really were my wife, and I got such an adorable little girl as a bonus, that wouldn't be bad, would it?

"Um, well... what's Meiqi doing?" Ye Zi found something to talk about.

"Mommy! I'm here!" Song Meiqi stood up on the sofa and waved her little hands at the phone Luo Yang was holding.

Luo Yang quickly pointed the front-facing camera at Song Meiqi and walked over. "Meiqi, take the phone and talk to your mom."

But Song Meiqi tucked both hands behind her back. "I don't want to."

Luo Yang paused, surprised. "Why?"

Song Meiqi gave him an emphatic wink and lowered her voice. "Are you silly? My mommy called to video chat with you. Why are you giving me the phone? It's not mine."

Luo Yang: "..."

Wasn't I giving it to you because we'd run out of things to say and it felt awkward?

Before Luo Yang could say anything, Song Meiqi called out, "Mommy, talk to Uncle Luo. Don't interrupt my cartoons. Bye!"

Ye Zi was speechless too.

The two adults faced each other again from over a thousand kilometers apart, both equally embarrassed.

"Is everything going smoothly over there?" Luo Yang found a topic.

"Yes, pretty smoothly. Our company has been investing in this lithium mine for three years now. If all goes well, we'll be able to start trial production by the end of the year." Ye Zi's face shone with a smile.

"That's good. The conditions over there look pretty harsh. Be careful."

"I will. Has Meiqi been causing you any trouble at home?"

"Not really. Meiqi's very well behaved."

"How about I show you the scenery here?"

"Sure."

The video call lasted twenty-three minutes, leaving Luo Yang's phone hot to the touch.

As it happened, the cartoon had ended too.

"Meiqi, that's enough for tonight," Luo Yang said. "Time to go to your room and sleep."

Song Meiqi slowly climbed down from the sofa, shrugged her little shoulders, and put on a helpless expression. "Fine. You're the grown-up, after all."

Luo Yang opened his mouth, then stopped.

What followed gave him a headache too. He finally managed to coax Song Meiqi into bed, only for the little girl to demand a bedtime story and refuse to sleep without one. He had never told bedtime stories before, so he could only steel himself and tell her the story of "Granny Bear" that his mother had told him when he was little.

And that was a ghost story.

Song Meiqi clung to his neck and refused to sleep, so he had to tell her another one...

After nearly an hour of this, Luo Yang finally returned to his own room. It took him several more minutes to shake off his frazzled state.

Primordial Medical Finger, Spirit Infusion Seal.

Grandmaster Yingma descended from the heavens on golden light, dancing awkwardly and chanting.

Unlike the inheritance from the Witch Ruins, Luo Yang could only study and learn through the mask's "memories" to master the Spirit Communication Technique. There was no other way. He had to add the Spirit Communication Technique to his "toolbox" before Ma Zhonghua called to ask for his help.

The dancing continued.