Well, wasn't that a coincidence?

The man stood motionless on the chaotic street, his feet planted in a shadow. Pedestrians seeking refuge passed by him, and it seemed as if in an instant his surroundings had become empty.

The streets were quiet.

"Can I have it?"

A sound broke the silence, carrying the chill of a breeze sweeping across the valley.

The man looked up and saw a slender figure standing at the street corner, her shadow falling upon her. The person looked dejected, her slightly drooping eyes fixed on him.

She was talking to him.

Realizing he was being noticed, the person in the shadows lowered his gaze, his eyes landing meaningfully on the shadow beneath the man's feet.

You're going to crush it.

"..."

The man slowly released his foot, and the sentient shadow remained motionless.

"You want it?" the man asked.

Feeling that the shadow was very strange, Ye Jiang thought it over and decided to retrieve it to take a look. Therefore, she nodded slightly.

She wants it.

In order to successfully retrieve the Shadow Clone from the man, she stiffened her expression and insisted, "This is my pet."

"..."

Ye Jiang noticed that the man didn't seem to mind, so she walked over and picked up the shadowy ball, holding it between two fingers with a hint of disgust. The man watched her quietly, his gaze lingering on her face for a long time.

The drill Polluted discovered two large snacks on the street and excitedly staggered over, only to be sucked into a black hole that appeared out of nowhere and disappeared before it even got close.

The streets were completely quiet.

Ye Jiang only then noticed that she was being watched. She tilted her head and glanced at the man, who did not look away and met her gaze. Ye Jiang caught a faint scent of pine and wood, and for a moment she was distracted. She felt that it was somewhat familiar, as if she had smelled it somewhere before. Just as she was about to take a closer look at this human man, he suddenly turned and left.

"..."

Ye Jiang gave up her intention to investigate.

"Sister, there isn't one on this street!"

The boy, Dong Zhen, came running from another street, muttering as he ran, "Sister, do you really have to find that thing? It's already gone. Next time I'll find you a cuter pet instead of this one... Huh, you've already found it?"

Chapter 76 Coincidence Isn't this a coincidence?

Ye Jiang patted the shadowy mass like a rubber ball. The strange shadow she had found had excellent elasticity; it bounced back immediately upon touching the ground, its elasticity no less than that of a real rubber ball.

It's unclear what happened to this conscious shadow, but it became completely still after returning to Ye Jiang's hand. No matter how Ye Jiang rubbed it, it didn't react. Ye Jiang held it and studied it for a long time, but couldn't figure it out, so it became just a toy in her hands.

Lying on the sofa in her apartment, Ye Jiang threw the shadowy ball against the wall, then caught it as it bounced back. She repeated this action, her thoughts drifting away. That man, the man she had just met on the street—he seemed vaguely familiar...

The singing came from the direction of the window. Dong Zhen was leaning on the windowsill, humming a song and gazing outside. Sunlight fell on him, making him look carefree. Outside, members of the Ability Control Bureau in black uniforms were rummaging through the flowerbeds at the bottom of the building, seemingly searching for something, shaking the trees and poking at the grass. Dong Zhen watched, and when the Ability Control Bureau member parted a clump of grass, he mischievously conjured a Ability Control Bureau member. The Ability Control Bureau member cursed, and Dong Zhen, having done something naughty, grinned.

Ye Jiang hurled the shadowy mass at the boy, but as if he had eyes in the back of his head, a vine sprouted from the back of his head, wrapped around the shadow, and lifted it into the air. He turned around and said, "Sister, you ambushed me."

Ye Jiang didn't reply, her gaze fixed on that vine. In a sudden flash of inspiration, her memory was gently stirred—

Oh, that man was the one who warned her that she was under an illusion that day.

No wonder she looked familiar; it turns out I've seen her before.

Ye Jiang finally remembered.

"Elder sister?"

Ye Jiang snapped out of her reverie, putting the matter she had figured out aside. She opened her hand, and Dong Zhen gently placed the shadowy mass back into her palm using vines. Ye Jiang grasped it with her fingers, casually stuffing the now eerily quiet shadow into her pocket. Then she stood up and said, "I'm going out for a bit."

Where to go?

Ye Jiang glanced at the message on her phone. "Ability Control Bureau."

Xiao Pei just messaged her, asking if she could go to the Ability Control Bureau to help treat someone suffering from Pollution.

Dong Zhen had already made a gesture to follow them out, but upon hearing that they were going to the territory of human ability users, he instantly lost interest. He lay back down, listlessly tracing the ground with his toes. "Oh, have a good trip, sister."

The members of the Ability Control Bureau downstairs have already left, empty-handed, heading off to tear up the lawn of the next neighborhood.

Dong Zhen's figure slowly became indistinct and transparent in the sunlight, as if preparing to leave under the effect of an illusion. His sister was leaving; what was the point of him lingering? But just a second before his form was completely absorbed into the sunlight, he swiftly solidified again. He turned back, a broad smile on his face, "Wow, I forgot to say goodbye to my sister! Bye-bye, sister! See you later!"

"... Um."

Ye Jiang only found out when she went to the Ability Control Bureau that the person she needed to treat was an acquaintance, the former superstar Yun. However, the superstar was in a terrible state, looking utterly Pollution, covered in festering black spots, and unconscious, neither human nor ghost.

Two Healer from the Ability Control Bureau were treating him, but the Pollution was difficult to cure, and he lay there half-dead.

Ye Jiang glanced at the scene and asked Xiao Pei, the captain who had summoned her, with curiosity, "Does your Bureau of Extraordinary Controls have special methods for handling criminals?"

If she remembered correctly, Yun Hua was in a sorry state when he was arrested, but there was absolutely no Pollution on his body. Now, however, he looked like he had been thoroughly Pollution, with black blood still hanging on the glass next to him, resembling some kind of brutal torture scene.

Upon hearing this, Xiao Pei felt as if she had swallowed a fly; her skin twitched a few times, and she glared at the lying piece of trash.

Qin Daichuan, the head of the Ability Control Bureau's Operations Team, who was also in this special isolation room, pinched his tightly furrowed brows and said, "He was suddenly attacked by an unknown Pollution; no one from the Ability Control Bureau has touched him."

It was precisely to investigate the source of this unexplained Pollution, and to further clarify Yun Hua's astonishing confession before he fell into a coma, that the Ability Control Bureau spared no effort in gathering all their most precious medical resources here, all to save this scumbag's life.

Captain Qin's suit was slightly disheveled, and his hair fell down, obscuring his eyes. The inability to trace the source of the Pollution made him feel depressed. There was no Pollution in the department. The Pollution on Yun Hua should be the shadow he said he had created, which was attacked and tainted by it. If Yun Hua really had that strange shadow.

The shadow is important evidence and needs to be found.

The bureau has already sent people to look for Yun Hua's missing persons, but there has been no news yet.

Where exactly is that thing hidden?

Furthermore, what exactly attacked Yun Hua's shadow, causing the top- A-Rank ability user to rapidly lose their sense of self? What level of Polluted could have caused this level of Pollution? Or, if the Pollution didn't originate from Polluted at all...?

In the shadow of his falling hair, Qin Daichuan frowned slightly.

Ye Jiang didn't understand what the captains of the Ability Control Bureau were worried about. She didn't really think the Ability Control Bureau was that cruel. She had just asked casually and put the question aside when she didn't understand. She went to the patient surnamed Yun who needed treatment. The two Healer had stopped providing healing made room for her as soon as they saw her. Their eyes were fixed on her, as if they wanted to chat with her, a famous high-level Healer, but they held back because the occasion was inappropriate.

Before making her move, Ye Jiang glanced back at Xiao Pei and explained, "Boss, you should know that my ability to treat Pollution is also quite average, you know that, right?"

The implication is that we shouldn't have too high hopes for her.

Xiao Pei said, "I know, just do your best."

As she said this, her gaze lightly swept over Ye Jiang's pocket, where a bulging bag lay.

Not knowing what was inside, she had just been about to ask, "What are you carrying in your clothes? Is it comfortable to wear it like that? Do you want to take it out and put it away, or I can keep it for you?"

Upon hearing this, Ye Jiang looked down at her pocket. "No need, it's my pet."

"?"

pet?

Ye Jiang didn't say much, so Xiao Pei didn't ask any more questions. She glanced at Yun Hua curiously a couple more times, and then shifted her attention to Yun Hua when Ye Jiang began treating her.

Treating deep Pollution is not a simple matter and takes a long time. At first, Xiao Pei was still watching over the place, but after a while, she received a report from her subordinate and went upstairs to deal with other matters, leaving Qin Daichuan to watch over the place.

When Xiao Pei returned, Ye Jiang glanced at her. The Healer next to her was dealing with the Pollution with a furrowed brow, not daring to be careless. However, Ye Jiang did not feel any tension at all. The treatment process was too boring. She even wanted to take out her phone and watch a show while receiving treatment.

Ye Jiang's gaze fell on the captain of the Bureau of the Ability Control Bureau. She watched as the captain shook her head at Qin Daichuan and mouthed "no." Then, a dark look flashed in Qin Daichuan's eyes, and his gloom and exhaustion intensified. The next second, Qin Daichuan stood up, said "I'll go out and search too," and left. Xiao Pei stood there for a while before following him.

The Ability Control Bureau was searching for something, Ye Jiang understood this information.

Treating Yun Hua's Pollution was a huge undertaking. Ye Jiang paused the treatment as it was getting dark and was taken by Xiao Pei, who had returned from outside, to a small restaurant outside the Ability Control Bureau for a meal.

Xiao Pei seemed very busy, constantly texting even while eating, repeatedly taking out her phone to process messages. Ye Jiang noticed her face was clouded with worry, as if she had encountered something troublesome. Ye Jiang ignored this, but couldn't bear to see her neglect the chicken leg on her plate, so she kindly helped her remove it. The busy Captain Xiao glanced down and caught her stealing the chicken leg.