Tailor? Tailor.

Wu Xiaofeng was just about to raise his hand to knock when the door suddenly opened on its own, like an automatic door. But Wu Xiaofeng knew perfectly well that his workplace had no such thing, and there was no one in front of him after the door opened.

Wu Xiaofeng froze, then looked up into the room.

Two people were sitting inside. The almond-eyed young woman who had sat beside the police superintendent at that group meeting was now sitting by the window. She wore a pink knitted sweater, her hands folded in her lap, and had turned to look at Wu Xiaofeng with a gentle expression.

Wu Xiaofeng had never seen the other person before. He was a tall but somewhat frail-looking man wearing glasses, with a scholarly air, sitting behind a desk and tapping away at something.

When he saw Wu Xiaofeng enter, the man immediately stopped what he was doing, stood up, and said:

"Hello, Officer Wu Xiaofeng. What can I do for you?"

Wu Xiaofeng was a little stunned. He had never even met this man, yet the man knew his name. For a moment, he actually found himself at a loss for words.

Seeing this, Shen Bai followed up with an explanation and an introduction:

"My name is Shen Bai. I'm the deputy captain of Snow Cedar, so I have clearance to access the bureau's police system and view everyone's basic information. Is there something you need to report? Don't be too nervous. Just describe it accurately."

Shen Bai's voice was as refined as his appearance, and it seemed to carry a strange power. Simply listening to him speak made most of Wu Xiaofeng's strange unease fade.

Coming to his senses, Wu Xiaofeng took out the cigarette pack and the note, then said concisely:

"Last night, we received a suspicious call. The caller identified himself as the elderly dorm caretaker at Yishi No. 12 Middle School, so we went out to investigate first thing this morning. We found nothing unusual. But after returning to the bureau, we discovered that all our body cameras had malfunctioned and recorded nothing from the callout, and I found scratches on my body, along with this cigarette pack and note. I thought something was wrong, so I chose to report it."

Shen Bai took the note and unfolded it without hesitation, reading it through. The young woman beside him also stood and walked slowly over to him. Shen Bai thought for a moment, then said:

"...Si Ying, notify the captain and Xiao Liang. A Netherworld may have appeared."

He Siying nodded, then turned and began making calls.

Meanwhile, Shen Bai looked at Wu Xiaofeng and said:

"Gather everyone who went on this callout. I'll go with you. I need to ask some questions."

"...All right."

The four were soon assembled. The conference room was temporarily cleared, leaving only Shen Bai, He Siying, and the four police officers inside.

"It's all right. Just stay seated and relax."

Shen Bai's voice came from behind Li Yanguo and the other three. At his request, the four sat in a row of chairs, unsure what this "police officer" serving on temporary assignment intended to do.

Shen Bai slowly circled the four of them, his footsteps extremely light. Behind his glasses, his light brown eyes shifted slightly, like candle flames burning in the dark.

While Shen Bai's "scrutiny" was underway, He Siying suddenly turned toward the conference room door and said:

"Yiyi's here."

Shen Bai nodded without saying anything and simply continued what he was doing.

Wu Xiaofeng felt intensely uncomfortable all over. It was more than the feeling of being watched. As a police officer, being stared at for a while was commonplace, but he had never felt as uncomfortable as he did now.

It was as though every pore on his body had opened beneath that gaze, laid bare. Shen Bai's eyes were like scissors measuring out flesh. Wu Xiaofeng had a feeling: right now, in Shen Bai's eyes, he was not a person, but a doll that could be manipulated at will.

Under that strange scrutiny, Wu Xiaofeng and the others were completely unable to pay attention to their surroundings. Time seemed like thread being drawn from a spool, stretching endlessly.

Just as Wu Xiaofeng was about to buckle under the pressure, Shen Bai's voice came from beside him.

"All done. Sorry for the intrusion."

The pressure vanished instantly. Unable even to remain sitting upright, Wu Xiaofeng slumped into his chair.

A gust of wind swept in through the window, and Wu Xiaofeng shivered. Only then did he realize that his clothes were completely soaked with sweat.

"Well? Did you find anything?"

A woman's voice rang out.

Wu Xiaofeng paused. That was not He Siying's voice. He looked up toward its source and found a casually dressed woman standing there. She was tall, looking about 175 centimeters in height. A few strands of her long hair had been braided, making her look like one of those energetic instructors at a street dance club.

She had come in just now, but all four of them had been enduring that indescribable pressure, so none of them had noticed her.

Shen Bai adjusted his glasses and casually closed the nearby window before saying:

"I can confirm that this was the work of an Evil Sin. Their memories have been altered. But as luck would have it, its ability seems to overlap slightly with mine, and its rank is similar too. I can try to repair their memories. Normally, this would take quite some time, and there could still be mistakes. After all, it isn't weak. However..."

At this point, Shen Bai paused briefly and looked at Yuan Qiu.

"However?"

The woman called Yiyi tilted her head slightly and looked at Yuan Qiu as well, waiting for Shen Bai to continue.

"However, this person is a little different. I can prioritize repairing his memories. There seems to be another power in his memories trying to counteract the memory erasure, but it's relatively weak, so it hasn't done much. Still, as long as I catch hold of this loose end, I can restore his memories more completely than the others'."

But Liu Yiyi paid no attention to that, instead seizing on another point:

"You mean another Heir or gifted individual was involved in this incident?"

Shen Bai nodded in confirmation.

Seeing that, Liu Yiyi immediately turned to leave, catching hold of He Siying, who was standing nearby, and pushing through the door to run outside like a whirlwind. As she ran, she shouted:

"Then get a move on! Hurry up and put together an overview of what happened, then we'll head out and slaughter that beast that's been hurting people, smash the Netherworld to pieces, and bring that prospect back! It's about time our team got someone new! I've been sick of West Wind for ages. They found two new recruits, and now they're strutting around like they own the place!"

He Siying seemed utterly unsurprised and let herself be pulled along. As she passed through the doorway, she lightly hooked her toe, pulling the door shut with just enough force. The latch gave a soft click.

Shen Bai shook his head helplessly, then turned back toward Yuan Qiu. He slowly reached into his breast pocket and carefully rummaged around before smoothly pulling out a fairly large sewing box.

Yuan Qiu gaped in astonishment.

"...W-wait! That's a magic trick, right? How did you fit such a big box into that tiny pocket? And your pocket was clearly flat before!"

Shen Bai smiled, his smile very gentle.

"It's simply a necessary procedure. Before I do anything to you, I'm obliged to briefly explain my ability and what comes next. It doesn't matter whether word gets out. In any case, as time goes on, everyone will come to accept it sooner or later."

Shen Bai opened the sewing box and took out a long, slender needle. With swift, precise movements, he passed a thread through its eye, then took out a pair of scissors and snipped the thread in his hand.

"I'm a tailor. Nothing special. I can only do what a tailor does: thread needles, guide thread, cut, and mend. I've learned the four skills of a tailor. Next, I'll cut away the threads binding your memories, then sew the severed memories back together... Once that's done, we'll be able to recall what happened this morning."

Wu Xiaofeng and the others found this utterly absurd. Liu Mingyuan even wanted to stand up and stop Shen Bai, but for some reason, he could not get to his feet. Li Yanguo narrowed his eyes against the sunlight and saw that, at some point, fine threads had been wound around all four of them.

Yuan Qiu watched in disbelief as Shen Bai approached him step by step, holding the long needle.

"Wait... wait! This has to be a joke! There's no way anything like that could exist-aaah!!"

Yuan Qiu struggled with all his might, but he could not even budge his chair. Shen Bai did not hesitate. He raised his hand and thrust the scissors straight at Yuan Qiu.

"AAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!"

But neither the pain he had imagined nor the sound of flesh being cut came. Yuan Qiu cracked open one of the eyes he had squeezed shut in fright.

He saw the blades of the scissors reflecting the sunlight, the light bouncing back and forth in his pupils, illuminating his world.

Yuan Qiu's eyes rolled back, and he fainted from fright.