Chapter 45: Debt
In a half-conscious state, Li Yingqi seemed to see a familiar back figure. Even though the other party was now dressed in bizarre clothes, that broad back she had looked up at countless times still made her realize who exactly was the figure that had once again saved her from danger.
“Da Jiang…” Li Yingqi murmured.
Her dazed mind was no longer sufficient to support her in thinking why a dead person would appear here, why someone who had died in the aftermath of an Abnormal God’s power would suddenly possess power that crushed the Abnormal God. She only hoped that all this was not a dream. Although the first half of the dream was so terrible that it made her feel doomsday was nothing more than this, seeing someone she wanted to see again made all those negative things no longer terrifying.
……
“I’m back, Boss.” Wei Jiang pushed open the door and entered. The red ghost mask on his face quickly transferred to his hand and flowed back onto the door leaf from his fingertips.
Lin Ling seemed to have long anticipated the timing of his return and smiled, saying, “Now that you’re back, sit down and rest first. The tea is just the right temperature now.”
Wei Jiang dragged his fatigued body to sit in front of the coffee table, opposite Lin Ling. His trembling hand lifted the teacup. His body was slowly becoming transparent and weak. He drank the tea while spilling it, looking utterly disheveled.
Lin Ling smiled as he watched Wei Jiang’s embarrassing state and asked, “You finally have a chance to see an old acquaintance from before death. Don’t you want to have a good chat?”
Upon hearing this, after drinking a few sips of hot tea, Wei Jiang’s body gradually solidified again, and his whole body stopped trembling. He took a few breaths before saying, “No need. There’s a difference between life and death, separated by the other shore. I don’t want to cause them trouble later because of a momentary pleasure, nor trouble myself.”
As he spoke, he glanced at the motionless lycoris radiata on the table, his gaze complex. “I’m also considered a type of anomaly now. The duty of the Mystic Investigators is to expel and contain anomalies. My existence already stands in opposition to them. Moreover, I’m now Boss Lin’s employee. If that group makes me re-employed here as an undercover agent, I’d feel a great unease of conscience.”
“Oh, not bad. You’re actually considering things for me.” Lin Ling looked pleasantly surprised and couldn’t help clapping for Wei Jiang’s response. He then smiled and said, “However, it sounds pretty interesting. If you’re really interested in continuing as a Mystic Investigator, it wouldn’t be impossible to come to my side as an undercover agent.”
“Boss…” Wei Jiang was somewhat moved, feeling that Lin Ling clearly had more of a kind-hearted and reasonable side, but for some reason Yu Lianyun always spoke ill of Boss Lin.
“In that case, I could also save on one salary.” Lin Ling’s follow-up supplement made Wei Jiang’s sentiment plummet to the valley bottom. Lin Ling still smiled and said, “Hey, by the way, you could also try Infernal Affairs.” His eyes were eager to try.
“No, my acting skills are terrible.” Wei Jiang refused with a bitter smile.
Lin Ling sighed in disappointment upon hearing this and murmured, “What a great amusement…”
Wei Jiang’s teeth ached hearing this. He quickly diverted the boss’s attention and changed the topic: “Boss, the feather rented by Li Jiahong is most likely irretrievable. What to do?”
“Do what needs to be done. If you lose a rented item, of course you have to compensate and pay the debt.” Lin Ling said matter-of-factly. He precisely picked up a subdued black cat from the shadows and placed it on his lap to play with.
Wei Jiang sensed a different chill from Lin Ling’s eerie smile and couldn’t help asking, “How to pay it back?”
“See if it’s paying money or something else.” Lin Ling smiled and said, “Compensate at double the original price of the item, or obediently come in the shop to labor.”
“…But Li Jiahong is human.” Wei Jiang’s lips twitched slightly.
“Eh, what a coincidence, so am I.” Lin Ling replied with a surprised expression.
Wei Jiang: “…”
At this point, how could Boss Lin be so stubborn like a dead duck.
In this shop, from top to bottom, inside and out, nothing was normal. It collected one anomaly after another that was almost impossible to know about, and Lin Ling could perfectly control all anomalies, which obviously wasn’t something a normal person could do.
However, Wei Jiang also understood Boss Lin’s attitude: “Did you plan from the beginning to make Li Jiahong an employee in the shop?”
“No. Everything about Li Jiahong coming to this point is his personal choice.” Lin Ling said with a light laugh, “I never actively sought him out; it was he who found me.”
Wei Jiang was speechless because the fact was indeed so. Back then, seeing someone actually proactively seeking help from Lin Ling, he was stunned.
With Lin Ling’s third-rate rhetoric, anyone with eyes could see it was a scam, yet Lin Ling still enjoyed it tirelessly. Unexpectedly, someone really took the bait willingly.
“He could have investigated the case alone but couldn’t resist connecting with other families who had lost their closest kin out of goodwill and joy. After a chain of cause and effect, although Xue Hanlei’s death was her own choice, he couldn’t escape the involvement.” Lin Ling said, “Actually, as early as after the feather was given to his wife, he himself noticed the strangeness on his wife, but he still blindly prayed for nothing to happen and didn’t follow my instructions, leading to discovering something wrong at the end and wanting to salvage it, but it was already completely too late.”
Wei Jiang let out a light sigh after hearing this and said, “He’s a good person.”
“Not necessarily.” Lin Ling said calmly, “Back when his wife and child met with misfortune, have you ever thought why he wasn’t by their side?”
Wei Jiang sat up straight and listened carefully.
“Back then, Li Jiahong was young and promising, full of vigor. The time he spent in banquets and gentle company was longer than accompanying his wife and child.” Lin Ling kneaded the cat claws’ paw pads of the black cat and said, “Now, what drives him on the road to seek the lost one isn’t his conscience at the bottom of his heart?”
This was the first time Wei Jiang heard such truth and couldn’t help falling into silence.
……
“Urgh—” Yu Lianyun startled awake from the nightmare. Upon waking, she found herself lying on a hospital bed, her shoulder immobile, hooked to a medicine bottle and blood bag. Her memory slowly resurrected afterward, recalling what exactly she had seen before passing out last.
At this time, Li Yingqi, with plaster cast on her entire leg, walked over from another hospital room and said, “You’re lucky. You almost died at that guy’s hands.”
“You’re the lucky one. I almost thought you and Captain He were both dead.” Yu Lianyun said.
Hearing this, Li Yingqi immediately asked seriously, “The one who saved us was Wei Jiang, right?”
“You must have seen wrong.” Yu Lianyun paused and thought of fulfilling the confidentiality contract, saying, “How could a dead person still be alive, and become an existence even more powerful than an Abnormal God? That’s impossible.”
Too tired, can’t write more. Holiday the day after tomorrow, will write more for everyone then. Begging for collections, votes, etc.~~~~
