Chapter 211: The Price Of The Transaction
Wei Jiang was still the Wei Jiang from his memory, but he could no longer return to the past. He said he had a mission he had to complete; rather than “had to,” it was what he most wanted to do right now.
It wasn’t just him; Li Yingqi and Yu Lianyun were the same. They both had their own aspirations they wanted to fulfill.
Hearing this, He Jia’an had already guessed that Yu Lianyun had likely met with misfortune. He felt a bit down, yet he couldn’t help but feel a sense of relief for Yu Lianyun, and a little bit of envy.
Living as a person in this world is truly too difficult. I hope that if there is a next life, they can be stones.
Then, Wei Jiang introduced him to the owner of the forest cabin, Boss Lin, whom he had never “seen the true face of.”
Upon first seeing the young-looking Lin Ling, He Jia’an found it somewhat absurd. However, when he saw his former subordinate maintaining a consistently respectful attitude towards Lin Ling, he couldn’t help but cast aside his worldly judgment and re-examine the person.
After a period of examination, He Jia’an was certain that this “person” was definitely a madman, and the most terrifying kind of madman at that.
Emotionally detached, exceptionally rational, mad yet not frenzied… these rational madmen can cause disaster regardless of the weapon they hold.
And these kinds of madmen are precisely the ultimate belonging for all lucky investigators, and the most perfect professional state that investigators must pursue.
In He Jia’an’s mind, Lin Ling possessed eyes that could see through people’s hearts. He had no privacy in his every move from the other party; his every thought could be understood. To the extent that He Jia’an had no opportunity to probe the other party’s background, but was instead quickly led by the nose, and ended up inexplicably paying money to buy a red envelope.
Seeing that he had actually produced two red banknotes from his pocketless patient gown out of nowhere, He Jia’an knew in his heart that what he had paid was likely far more than just “money.”
Every transaction each person makes in this forest cabin definitely involves paying a “price” crueler than life itself, it’s just that it’s paid out in a form and manner we can understand.
“What does 200 yuan represent?” He Jia’an asked, handing the money to Lin Ling. He hesitated for a second, but ultimately gave it without reservation; the power of the red envelope was what he needed most right now.
Lin Ling smiled and told him, “Yuan is the root, and also the source…”
…
He Jia’an weighed the “gold and silver” in his pocket. After thinking for a moment, he decided to go to the convenience store to buy a few of the cheapest energy bars for food for the next few days, then find a place to temporarily settle down. He estimated he would be on this small island for quite some time. Once he had settled down a bit, he would make other plans.
Entering a chain convenience store, He Jia’an stood in front of the shelves, carefully selecting, repeatedly weighing, and contemplating which energy bar would be better.
One was tasty but small in quantity and expensive; another was not tasty but large in quantity and… also not cheap.
After some thought, He Jia’an decided to buy the one with more quantity. Just as he was about to go to the counter to pay, he heard a scream. Acting on instinct, he looked towards the sound and saw a pair of local high school girls, seemingly terrified by something on their mobile phones. In their panic, they dropped their phones, which landed face down on the floor.
“Guest, is everything alright? What happened?” The shop assistant at the convenience store also rushed over. Seeing the two girls hugging each other, their faces pale and trembling, their helpless and pitiable appearance made the shop assistant curious. He then noticed the phone lying on the floor.
As the shop assistant was about to pick up the phone, a female high school student was about to speak, seeming to want to stop the action, but was quickly silenced by her companion, whose expression had drastically changed. The companion covered her mouth, her eyes fixed on the shop assistant as he picked up the phone.
But just as the shop assistant was about to flip the screen of the phone over, a pale hand pressed down, snatched the phone, and without even looking, closed the flip phone and returned it to the two high school girls.
He Jia’an smiled at the two girls and said, “Be careful.” His tone was calm, but to the two high school girls, it carried a profound meaning.
The two high school girls immediately appeared very guilty, their gazes darting away. The girl who had covered her companion’s mouth hesitated before taking back the phone. Then, holding hands, the two girls quickly left.
Although, in the shop assistant’s opinion, He Jia’an’s action of snatching the phone from his hand resembled a streetwise guy trying to act like a gentleman towards high school girls, the shop assistant, out of politeness, thanked He Jia’an. At the same time, he found the behavior of the two high school girls just now quite strange.
“Um… Sir, thank you for your help.” The shop assistant said, without genuine sincerity.
“You’re welcome.” He Jia’an shook his head.
He looked in the direction the two girls had left, deep in thought, tilting his head. Then he suddenly frowned, “Hiss… those two high school girls just now, they wouldn’t have watched… no way, no way…” He muttered to himself, then quickly denied it.
He Jia’an looked at him, “What do you think they saw? It couldn’t be anything lewd, right?”
Hearing this, the shop assistant gave a dry laugh and waved his hand, “No, no, I was just overthinking things.” With that, he bowed slightly and returned to his work behind the counter.
He Jia’an thought for a moment, glanced at the three energy bars in his hand, and turned to pay. While checking out, he asked again, “What do you think those two girls saw?”
The shop assistant looked up at He Jia’an. His gleaming bald head and stern face made the shop assistant nervously purse his lips. He was somewhat afraid that if he didn’t speak honestly, the other party might not pay, or worse, might beat him up.
Seeing that there were no other customers in the store at the moment, the shop assistant stopped beating around the bush and stated frankly, “You know that story that’s been going around lately, like an urban legend?”
“Sorry, I’m a bit old-fashioned and rarely go online. Please elaborate.” He Jia’an blinked, leaning half his body on the counter, patiently listening to the shop assistant’s explanation.
The shop assistant’s mouth twitched slightly as he said, “Isn’t video calling popular now? Lately, some people’s phones have inexplicably received a video call invitation from someone with a completely black avatar and the name ‘Unknown.’ But this person is clearly not a friend.”
“A phone virus?”
“A virus? It’s more terrifying than that.” The shop assistant seemed to get into it, leaning closer and whispering suspiciously into He Jia’an’s ear, “Anyone who accepts this video call invitation soon sees a woman with a bizarre and terrifying appearance. After that, the woman will say she’s coming to visit you… about seven days later, the person who answered the call will vanish!”
No time to write the season finale summary for volume six, let’s jump straight into volume seven.
