Death Record Notebook

This shallow?

Xia Shou was startled.

He had no idea how he had floated up here, but the scenery in the shallows was clearly much better than in the deep sea. If every dream took him to waters like these, he would gladly sleep a little longer.

After that brief moment of surprise, Xia Shou realized he couldn't breathe.

As he inhaled, bitter, salty seawater flooded his mouth. The intense discomfort made him instinctively struggle. Then a graceful figure suddenly swam out from behind the coral reef and approached him.

A moment later, two soft, warm lips pressed against his. Life-giving air passed from another living being's mouth into Xia Shou's lungs. Like some kind of ritual, it suddenly allowed him to breathe freely underwater.

Xia Shou calmed down enough to get a clear look at the creature before him.

She had a slender, graceful human upper body and a long, beautiful fish tail, exactly like the mermaids described in fairy tales.

The mermaid girl swished her tail, drifting quietly through the water, her red hair spreading behind her like silk.

For some reason, she felt deeply familiar to Xia Shou, like an old friend he had once been very close to but had since forgotten.

Xia Shou stared at her face, searching his memories for someone who resembled her.

As he pondered, tiny wounds suddenly split open all over the mermaid's body. Great clouds of blood billowed into the seawater, spreading like smoke from a smoke bomb, growing thicker and thicker without any sign of stopping...

Xia Shou's eyes snapped open. Above him was his dorm room ceiling.

He instinctively checked the scale in his left eye. The reading was still over a thousand meters.

"What a strange dream."

When he tried to recall the dream, the beautiful scenery of the shallows came back as clearly as a photograph. Yet the mermaid's appearance alone had become incredibly blurry, as though she were the only real dream.

Xia Shou picked up his Employee Phone. It was already noon. He had slept the entire morning away.

His phone was piled high with messages. He opened them and found they were all work assignments from Shangguan Yan.

Right... He had almost forgotten that the price of going on that mission was a month of overtime. He was a working man now.

Xia Shou lifted the bedsheet and retrieved the Death Record Notebook hidden underneath. He opened it, only to find that the writing was still illegible. That meant he still couldn't turn the page.

It made sense, really. Only about twenty-four hours had passed since he had crossed into this world. It hadn't been very long at all; he had simply been through a lot.

While Xia Shou sat lost in thought, a pair of transparent hands floated over to him, carrying a neatly folded item of clothing. He froze for a moment before realizing this was Alice's doing.

"Alice, are you awake?"

There was no response.

Apparently not. She was simply carrying out her duties as a maid.

Xia Shou sighed, obediently got dressed, and climbed out of bed. With Alice's help, he slipped on his jacket. Then a basin of warm water floated out of the bathroom. Transparent hands wrung out a warm towel and gently wiped his face, while a comb straightened his sleep-tousled hair.

Xia Shou barely knew what he was doing. All he felt were gentle forces pressing against his limbs, guiding his hands and feet around, lifting an arm one moment and a foot the next.

Then his socks, trousers, and everything else somehow ended up on him. The whole process was smoother and more comfortable than dressing himself, without the slightest hitch.

Five minutes later, he had "been dressed" in his uniform and stood at the dorm room door.

"Uh... Thanks, Alice."

Xia Shou didn't quite know how to describe the feeling.

Although letting a maid maneuver him around like this made him feel rather useless, having all his daily needs neatly taken care of without lifting a finger wasn't bad at all.

"Anyway, I'd better get to work."

His current sinking speed was still within a safe range, but there was no telling when it might accelerate. He had to start looking for the next suitable anomaly to devour.

Xia Shou left his dorm, crossed the museum grounds, wove through staff and ordinary visitors, and finally entered the administrative area, arriving at the Department Two office he had visited the night before.

The Investigation Department Two office had only six workstations, but not a single person was there.

Frowning, he picked up his phone and reread Shangguan Yan's message: [There might not be anyone in the office today. I've cleared a desk for you beside mine. All your work is on the computer.]

Xia Shou opened the door to the room farther inside and entered the department head's private office. Sure enough, there was a desk in the corner. He remembered a potted plant occupying that spot yesterday.

"Did she give me some kind of secretarial job?"

Aside from secretarial work, Xia Shou couldn't think of any reason to put his workstation inside his boss's office.

"Whatever. Work still has to get done. Let's see what's on the schedule."

Xia Shou switched on the computer. Two programs sat on the desktop: "Work Schedule" and "Sealed Anomaly Search." He hovered the cursor between them before finally opening the latter first.

Before getting down to his actual work, he wanted to investigate the Death Record Notebook.

Up to now, he had followed the notebook's guidance and arrangements, yet he knew nothing about it.

Since the notebook's previous owner knew Shangguan Yan, he must have had dealings with the Containment Bureau.

Perhaps the Containment Bureau's Sealed Anomaly files contained information about the notebook.

Xia Shou's fingers settled on the keyboard, then suddenly stopped.

Searching directly might leave a browsing trail on the Containment Bureau's network. Of course, it would be perfectly reasonable for an employee to casually look up a Sealed Anomaly he'd heard rumors about, but if there was a way to browse without leaving a trace, that would be best.

Click!

As he considered this, the office door opened a crack, and a familiar voice came from the doorway.

"Xia Shou?"

Su Weiyu poked her head through the door and let out a long sigh of relief when she spotted him.

"Finally found you! You weren't in your dorm, so I figured you'd come to work. And here you are.

You haven't had lunch yet, have you? Look what I brought you!

Ta-da! Lunch from a five-star hotel!"

Su Weiyu waved the takeout bags in her hands, then proudly set the meal boxes on the desk and opened them. An enticing aroma wafted up to greet him.

"Australian Purebred Wagyu and Boston Lobster! I thought you might not like Western food, so when I passed a Japanese restaurant, I grabbed a sushi platter too. Just enough for the two of us!"

Su Weiyu pulled up a chair beside Xia Shou's desk and laid out the utensils.

Looking at the deliciously colorful food before him, Xia Shou remarked, "This must've been expensive, right?"

"I didn't look at the prices. I just grabbed it. If there's anything you want to eat, just tell me and I'll get it for you. Or I can make it myself. I might not look it, but I'm an amazing cook!" Su Weiyu gave him a thumbs-up, her face brimming with confidence.

"Must be nice, getting to eat whatever you want." Xia Shou found himself envying Su Weiyu's ability.

Given his circumstances in his previous life, never mind Boston lobster or Wagyu-even a trip to Haidilao Hot Pot Restaurant required careful consideration. Yet Su Weiyu treated these gourmet dishes as everyday fare.

By comparison, Su Weiyu's ability was ridiculously convenient. Not only did it free her completely from society's rules, it also let her enjoy the finest services modern society had to offer, anytime and anywhere. Just thinking about it felt incredible!

Sitting beside him with a knife and fork in hand, Su Weiyu was in no hurry to eat. Instead, she sneaked glances at Xia Shou's expression. Only after seeing how pleased he was with lunch did she breathe a long sigh of relief, reassured that the plan she'd drawn up last night to win him over was working.

"By the way, why did you join the Containment Bureau?" Su Weiyu placed a piece of lobster on Xia Shou's plate, casually fishing for information.

"Hmm... How should I put it? To stay alive, I guess." Xia Shou picked up the lobster and sighed helplessly. "It's complicated. Basically, I have to keep hunting anomalies to survive."

"I see... Then you really do have to stay with the Containment Bureau." A flicker of disappointment passed through Su Weiyu's eyes.

If Xia Shou were only short on money, he wouldn't have to keep working at the Containment Bureau. She could just grab a few gold bars from any bank vault, and they could live it up for quite a while.

She had actually already planned a trip around the world. If Xia Shou didn't have to stay at the Containment Bureau, he could travel the world with her.

Xia Shou picked up his chopsticks and was about to dig in when something suddenly occurred to him. He turned to Su Weiyu with a delighted look. "Weiyu."

"Cough, cough, cough!" Su Weiyu choked, coughing several times before looking up and staring at Xia Shou in surprise.

She had never expected him to address her so intimately.

But she quickly composed herself, concealed her secret delight, and happily accepted this new form of address. "What is it?" she asked, sounding perfectly natural.

"Let me ask you something. If you looked something up online, would anyone else be able to detect your browsing history?" Xia Shou asked.