CH 10

“At a quarter past four, there are three preliminary qualified people. Okay, it’s almost time. I’m going to the People’s Hospital.” Fu Xingchuan stood up.

“The second group is on the line with Guo Laifu. What are you going to do?”

“It’s stable here. Yin Ren is qualified, so at least he could be a clerk. Here, both of them are under our eyes… It’s hard to say what Guo Laifu is going to do. He’s an important person, and those young people lack experience.”

“In case key clues are missed, I can’t afford the responsibility.”

Professor Li: “Well, be careful of sudden death.”

Fu Xingchuan: “…Thanks.”

The First Ghost General waved his hand and took out his phone to call a car.

A message reading [Donghe Sad Love: Missing Mr. Rose] popped up at the top of the screen. Fu Xingchuan glanced at the title and closed it. It was another messy ad from that video website again.

Before he could turn off the pop-up window, a call came.

Fu Xingchuan wearily connected the call. “Hey, didn’t I say, don’t… What? Give Xiao Liang the phone.”

Listening to the narrative on the phone, Fu Xingchuan’s eyebrows slowly furrowed.

“No, why isn’t there enough manpower?’

“Lack of sleep is causing them dizziness? It’s suspected that an Evil Spirit has been born, so all our combat power is investigating key areas.” Professor Li picked up the thermos cup and took a sip of tea. “Shian only keeps the most basic security configuration and can’t move around.”

Fu Xingchuan glanced at his partner and pinched his brow. “Haa, I know. I’ll think of something on my side.”

Seeing Fu Xingchuan terminate the call, Professor Li shook his cup heartily. “What, the First Ghost is about to enlist people? I still have some quick-acting heart pills. You can take them with you.”

“No, the C-level investigation team takes over all the security-level cases.” Fu Xingchuan smiled bitterly. “But this is a disappearance case, and time waits for no one.”

This time, Professor Li didn’t respond sarcastically to Fu Xingchuan.. He frowned and fell into deep thought.

An Evil Spirit had suddenly broken the seal, and the most powerful investigation team was sent out, so they currently lacked manpower.

…Wait, did they really have no manpower?

The two fell silent at the same time, which was followed by a meaningful glance exchange.

On the other side.

Yin Ren didn’t know that most of his purpose of “staying in Shian” had been achieved. He was enthusiastically talking with the Lu siblings.

“We’ll go first.” The corner of Blue Vest’s mouth was still stained with mud. “Alright, buddy. I hope I have the opportunity to be your junior* next year… Hey, did you bring your phone? Why don’t we add each other on WeChat?”

*The term he’s using is [houbei] (后辈) which is like equivalent to kouhai.

Yin Ren patted his pockets bitterly. Not to mention the novelty of cellphones, his only dagger had been confiscated, so his pockets were cleaner than his face.

Blue Vest sighed regretfully.

Red Fedora waved her hand, and they then walked back to the entrance with each other’s help. It wasn’t until the backs of the two of them were swallowed by darkness that Yin Ren finally turned around and moved forward.

The black door had a strong presence, but Yin Ren firmly ignored it.

The corridor around the corner had no doors. The lights were much brighter, and the corridor was filled with plants on either side. There were two figures slowly approaching from the opposite side.

Yin Ren recognized Zhong Chengshuo at a glance.

He still had the same calm look, and there was no sweat on his face. The person with him looked much more miserable. The young man’s footsteps were weak, his whole body was sweaty, and he looked pale and blue as if he had just been dug out of the snow.

As soon as he saw Yin Ren, it was unknown what had triggered him, but the young man yelled and collapsed on the ground.

“This is Lao Bin, a toxicologist from N University. Don’t mind him. He just passed the VR test and hasn’t calmed down yet.”

Zhong Chengshuo politely introduced the person who had collapsed on the ground in a serious manner, as if the three of them were exchanging business cards at an award ceremony.

“Mr. Lao, this is Yin Ren, the person who was involved in the incident with me.”

Mr. Lao, who was collapsed on the ground, stared straight at Yin Ren’s long hair and made a whimper.

Yin Ren: “……”

Zhong Chengshuo, are you not human?! Seeing someone paralyzed on the ground, even for someone like Yin Ren who hadn’t seen people for thousands of years, he at least knew that this was an inappropriate time for introductions.

Yin Ren hurriedly straightened his hair and stretched out a hand to the paralyzed Lao Bin. “Did I scare you? Sorry.”

Lao Bin wasn’t tall and was a bit chubby. He didn’t dare touch Yin Ren’s hand, but he couldn’t stand up, so he had to use his eyes to frantically give Zhong Chengshuo hints.

He wasn’t sure whether the other party was just oblivious or had other ideas, but Zhong Chengshuo looked back at him calmly and remained motionless.

Lao Bin whispered, “Brother, please give me a hand.”

Zhong Chengshuo looked at Yin Ren, who was holding out his hand, and then at Lao Bin. He pondered for a few seconds, then said, “Yin Ren, he’s asking you to give him a hand.”

Yin Ren, Lao Bin: “……”

One human and one ghost tasted the same embarrassment at this moment.

Lao Bin gave a wry smile and finally took Yin Ren’s hand. Yin Ren easily pulled him up and pretended as if nothing had just happened. “Why are you here?”

Zhong Chengshuo: “We just finished the previous test—”

“Yes, yes. We just finished testing. The two of us met here, so there shouldn’t be any more tests.” Lao Bin was anxious to resolve the awkwardness. He wiped away his sweat and interrupted Zhong Chengshuo. “Next, there should be a staff to guide us… Right…?”

From a glance, the corridor appeared to be heading in the same direction to the “back,” with no fork. If they wanted to leave, they could only pick the direction of heading back to the entrance.

The three of them stood quietly for a while. Lao Bin turned to Yin Ren and said with a forced smile, “Friend, what were you testing? How about we go your way?”

He seemed to have a great psychological shadow as his face held a panic full of “I will never go back that way again”.

“Emergency, everyone, please follow me.”

Before Yin Ren could answer, a female voice emerged from among the plants.

A hidden door opened in front of a leafy bush, and Fang Yuanyuan stood in the doorway. Her hair was tied up, and her expression was solemn.

Rather than responding, Yin Ren quickly retreated behind Zhong Chengshuo and used him to block half of himself.

Five minutes later.

Yin Ren hadn’t stepped onto the car yet, but his eyes were dead.

He suddenly understood how sinister this world could be. Not long ago, Fang Yuanyuan vowed to him that “there wasn’t frequent travel in the early stage”. As a result, he was pulled to Donghe District in Haigu before his ass was even warm in Shian.

The most annoying thing was that Lao Bin was lying comfortably in the lounge while only he and Zhong Chengshuo had to act.

He should have seized the opportunity just now to faint!

“If there’s a problem, at least one metaphysician and one atheist are required. Mr. Lao is weak, and there’s already one in the group.”

On the way to the car, Fang Yuanyuan explained to them.

Yin Ren was still trying to struggle. “Why does it have to be two people?”

Fang Yuanyuan replied dryly, “People in tune with the metaphysics are sensitive to anomalies and can easily find clues. Atheists are not really influenced by the supernatural, so they can save lives at critical moments.”

“I’ve just been rescued, and I don’t know anything.”

“All your indicators are good.”

Fang Yuanyuan brutally opened the car door for them.

“Just cooperate with the police investigation. 99% of ‘security’ level missions are like <Approaching Science>*. The remaining 1% is mostly picked up by the living. The police station has security staff that will ensure your safety.”

*It’s a series of documentary films from China. It broaches subjects like biology, archaeology, psychology, ect. It supposedly guides viewers (who are normally of lower education) from so-called “supernatural events” to a more scientific interpretation.

“But—”

“If you do a good job on this mission, you can skip the probation period and directly get a full salary.” Fang Yuanyuan smiled like a blooming flower and pushed the information folder into Yin Ren’s arms.

Yin Ren wasn’t sure what keyword had triggered Zhong Chengshuo, but suddenly he spoke up, “Let’s go. I’ll take care of you if something happens.”

Yin Ren: “……”

Zhong Chengshuo said solemnly, “Believe me, my parents are both police officers.”

But you’re not, and you just lied to me less than a day ago.

Yin Ren glanced at Zhong Chengshuo lifelessly and in the end didn’t object—listening to Fang Yuanyuan’s meaning, Shian had a legendary “probationary period”. He might not become an employee at Shian if it was too obvious that he was trying to mooch.

Their destination was Kaining Road in Donghe District. It was estimated that it would take more than an hour by car. He was supposed to be having dinner happily in the cafeteria, and he even chose the dinner item he wanted to try at lunch.

However, considering that “insufficient manpower” was partly his fault, Lord Ghost King could only reluctantly swallow his complaints.

Shian’s special car was quite spacious. Zhong Chengshuo waited for Yin Ren to get in first before following him to the back row. Unlike Yin Ren, who was wearing a Shian’s uniform, Zhong Chengshuo was still wearing his loose-fitting sweater with cuffs that almost covered the back of his hands.

When he got in the car, Zhong Chengshuo lowered his body, and the clothes stuck to his waist for a moment.

This guy wasn’t bad. Yin Ren swept his eyes over.

Zhong Chengshuo was of similar height to him and had a healthy and well-proportioned body. His figure wasn’t thin, but it couldn’t be said to be “robust” either, but it suited his gentle face.

Their work IDs were still hanging around their necks. When Zhong Chengshuo got in, his work ID was titled toward Yin Ren and dangled right in front of him.

When he took a closer look, there were symbols of who knew what carefully marked under his name. Yin Rin didn’t recognize any of the words.

Perhaps it was because he came too close that Zhong Chengshuo shrank back. “What?”

“Nothing. When you said your name was ‘Zhong Chengyue’ I thought the last word was ‘Shuo’.” Yin Ren quickly made an excuse.

“Originally, it was ‘Shuō’ but most people in school kept mistaking my name, so I had to make the best of it*.”

*(将错就错) Idiom referring to leaving a mistake uncorrected and making the best of it.

“It’s an allusion to ‘take an oath’1? They’re not completely wrong. Though when comparing ‘covenant’, ‘mutual love’2 is also quite interesting as well.” Yin Ren naturally withdrew his body.

1Clarity: This whole conversation is based on the Chinese character of Shuō’/Yuè (说). When Yin Ren saw Zhong Chengshuo, he introduced himself as Chengyue. Originally, he thought the (说) would be Shuo. This comes from a line in the poem in “The Book of Songs Beifeng Drumming”. The line where Chengshuo derives his name is from (死生契阔，与子成说.) which roughly translates to life and death are in agreement, and together they made an oath. The part that’s underlined and in bold is Chengshuo, however, in ancient Chinese, it’s often aliased as “Yuè” instead of “Shuō”.

2This part is addressing why people call him Chengyue. Basically, in ancient Chinese, Shuo is often aliased as Yue, so commonly when people see Chengshuo, they would think Chengyue. However, there is one exception and that is Chengshuo (成说) that was used in the poem. Its interpretation in the poem uses Chengshuo instead of yue. Yin Ren is saying that the people who mispronounce his name aren’t technically wrong because of this. Also, compared to ‘covenent/oath [yue ding] (约定) (this is referencing the oath from (成说)), mutual love [xiang yue] (约定) is more interesting. He’s basically saying that rather than Chengshuo, Chengyue (using the Yue from mutual love) is more interesting.

When Zhong Chengshuo responded, his eyes became a bit deep. “No, my dad intended to use the idiom ‘I hope my son will become a dragon. I hope my daughter will become a phoenix1’, but mom asked him to change the word, so they probably didn’t think so deeply about it2.”

1(望子成龙，望女成凤) Idiom referring to longing to see one’s children become successful and have a bright future.

2Clarity: So his dad wanted to name him Chenglong (from the idiom I hope my son will [Chenglong] become a dragon), but his mom didn’t want that and asked him to change the long, which he apparently casually did to Shuo (implying that his parents probably didn’t think too deeply about the context of Shuo like how I explained above).

Yin Blade: “……”

What’s wrong with Zhong Chenglong?! Doesn’t Zhong Chenglong sound good? Yin Ren didn’t understand.

But he noticed the other party’s expression as if to say “continue”.

“Do you have a sister named Zhong Chengfeng*?”

*Clarity: This would be the second part of the idiom. I hope my daughter will [Chengfeng] become a phoenix.

“Nn. Zhong Chengfeng, from maple of the maple tree, or my mother would’ve forcibly changed the word*.”

*Clarity: Again, the mom didn’t want the name to be named after the idiom, so they named the sister Chengfeng but used the Feng from maple (枫) instead of phoenix (凤) from the idiom.

“I see.”

Zhong Chengshuo was silent for a moment. “My sister has been dead for a long time.”

Yin Blade was startled. “…I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. She left before I was born. I have only seen her picture.” Zhong Chengshuo’s expression was calm. “Take out the information bag and let’s read it together.”

After he spoke, Zhong Chengshuo suddenly paused. “Miss Fang sent you a new cellphone. Can you use it?”

There was a brand-new phone lying in the transparent information bag, looking extremely conspicuous.

“I have no impression.” Yin Ren touched his cellphone vaguely.

“Well, maybe you didn’t use touch-screen models before. Anyway, let’s add our contact information first…”

As Zhong Chengshuo spoke, he operated his phone and then raised his head. “We have to register a name for you on WeChat. What do you want to use?”

“What?”

“People have their own naming habits. Thinking of commonly used screen names may jolt some of your memories.”

It’s over. It’s over. He didn’t understand what this person was saying. The test came too quickly, and Yin Ren’s heart was sweating like rain—he was able to muddle through at first, but then he was hit with this test of this so-called “cellphone”.

Listening to what Zhong Chengshuo was saying, he had to give himself a name for the phone.

The name was probably something like an “alias”. Ordinary martial arts cultivators would always call themselves “xx sword” and “xx blade” and so on. Even thousands of years ago, evil creatures and ferocious beasts liked to give themselves names that were sufficiently deterrent.

Which meant he had to do the opposite.

Yin Ren racked his brains. “Ah, I’ll be ‘Fruit Knife’.”

Fruit knife was a very modern word that he had just learned, and it was much more harmless than a dagger!

Zhong Chengshuo: “…”

Zhong Chengshuo: “…Okay, got it. In case we get separated, you can call or send me a message.”

Zhong Chengshuo opened up the dial-pad screen and the messaging app to explain the basics.

Yin Ren: “……”

There was only one person under ‘Fruit Knife’s’ contact list in WeChat. Zhong Chengshuo’s avatar was a red apple, and his screen name was “Final Fruit*”

*His screen name is (终成正果) which transliterated would mean “come to fruition”. This should be purposeful on the part of the author because the screen name chosen by Yin Ren is ‘Fruit Knife’.

Was this comical? Lord Ghost King suddenly felt a chill.

He had an eerie premonition that their “temporary partnership” might not end so easily.

The author has something to say:

That line of unknown symbols is pinyin; Xiao Yin doesn’t know pinyin—

Xiao Yin: Fuck, there is no dinner.

Xiao Zhong: I feel as if I have been targeted (?

Kinky Thoughts:

I didn’t realize this about the name until this chapter, so chapter 3 has been fixed to Chengyue when he introduced himself. However, just know that Zhong Chengshuo is the correct spelling.

Given that it’s impossible to tell whether he’s being called Chengyue or Chengshuo without indication from the author (which she hasn’t done until this chapter) or the pinyin form, I’ll have to translate it based on context.

For people who don’t know him, and he hasn’t corrected them, they will address him as Chengyue (even he himself does this). For people who know about it (like Yin Ren now) and also the executives of Shian (I would assume they have done extensive background checks on him and thus know how his name is actually spelled) I’ll keep it Chengshuo.

For narration that is not speech, I will use Chengshuo.

Also, from the author’s note, the line underneath Zhong Chengshuo’s name in his work ID most likely is the pinyin for his name, which would be Chengshuo, so given that’s the case, most likely people will be addressing him properly (if he’s wearing the work ID).

These nicknames are too adorable.