Chapter 3
Audrow was silent for a moment, then led him to stand, allowing the young man to let out all sorts of strange giggles and chuckles without further questioning. A black car was parked in the driveway outside the shop. He opened the back door, and before he could speak, Ning Zhixia lifted the blindfold to the top of his head and smoothly slipped inside.
He cheerfully patted the seat next to him: “Come on, Xiao Ao, don’t be shy!”
“…” Audrow stood silently, holding the car door, looking like a socially awkward person next to the uninhibited young man.
“Come on, come on!”
As the young man edged closer and closer, a large hand suddenly landed on his shoulder, pushing him in. Audrow pulled down his blindfold and sat in quietly.
The greenery outside the window rapidly receded. Inside the enclosed car, the smell of leather from the seats made Ning Zhixia wrinkle his nose. No one spoke. Ning Zhixia, receiving no response, found the darkness boring and started playing with the zipper of his jacket.
The metal zipper zipped up, his chin buried comfortably in the raised collar, and then—
Down, up, down, up…
Ning Zhixia shuddered.
Gah! Pinched his skin!
He sadly rubbed his chin. As he continued his peculiar way of passing the time, the dizziness gradually faded…
“Hmm!” The silly smile completely disappeared from his face. Ning Zhixia was silent for half a minute, then suddenly sat up straight as if jolted awake, his mouth slightly open under the blindfold.
Wait.
How did I get in the car?
The car was so quiet that he could only hear his own breathing. Ning Zhixia rubbed his aching chin. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, his indignation making his lips tremble as he spoke—
“Hello, may I ask where we are going?”
Audrow looked slightly puzzled, having witnessed the whole process of the young man, after regaining consciousness, panicking and feebly questioning the air in front of him.
The car drove onto a bumpy road while the young man babbled. With a sudden turn, Ning Zhixia lost his balance and grabbed onto the other man’s leg.
The muscles under the fabric tensed abruptly. Ning Zhixia felt a chill in his palm, as if the cold had seeped into his bones. A hand instinctively pushed him away again, and Ning Zhixia gasped in astonishment.
Wow, super cold legs!
After a bumpy ride, the car finally stopped. The unfamiliar street was deserted. The blindfold was removed, and Ning Zhixia squinted, taking a while to adjust. Through the car window, he looked expectantly at Audrow, who had already gotten out.
The other man walked a few steps, showing no intention of waiting, as if he knew he wouldn’t run away. Ning Zhixia glanced at the driver’s seat. The driver was burly, his bulging biceps almost bursting his shirt.
Their eyes met through the rearview mirror.
Running away would be effective but shameful.
Ning Zhixia paused, decisively choosing to open the door and get out, obediently following behind Audrow.
The entire road was wide and flat, the houses of varying heights on both sides empty and devoid of people. The scenery further away was only a hazy outline, like an unrendered scene in a video game.
“Dimensional Management Bureau…”
They stopped in front of a large building. Ning Zhixia looked up at the signboard, feeling apprehensive.
Was there such a place in Yucheng?
Before he could speak, the transparent glass door opened automatically, and Audrow had already walked in.
In the center of the hall was a double-flight wooden staircase. Halfway up was a wall, and the two paths leading to the second floor were decorated with some plants, looking similar to the layout of some older government buildings.
Audrow showed no sign of stopping, continuing upstairs with Ning Zhixia in tow.
Each floor had a different style of decoration, with murals on the walls, depicting galloping centaurs in desolate landscapes, mysterious floating behemoths, or dragons soaring through the sky…
The entire building was like a richly stocked museum, encompassing a wide variety of exhibits, displayed on different floors.
Ning Zhixia couldn’t help but ask sincerely—
“Why isn’t there an elevator here?”
He draped himself over the banister like he had no bones, sticking out his tongue and panting, turning to look at his unperturbed guide, who stood ramrod straight.
Audrow paused: “Is there a need?”
Ning Zhixia grumbled: “Of course there’s a need! Technology improves lives. Climbing stairs is so tiring. Going up, you could say it’s exercise, but going down, doesn’t it hurt your knees?”
Audrow looked towards the window on the wall: “I don’t think so.”
“Fine.”
Being delicate and frail is my fault.
Ning Zhixia sat down with a sigh, “I’ll rest for a bit.”
Audrow watched him for a moment, then went up another half-flight of stairs by himself, lowered his head, and calmly kicked the center of the wall.
The wall instantly began to distort.
After a few seconds, he returned to Ning Zhixia and brought him over.
Ning Zhixia exclaimed in surprise: “This is your elevator? So hidden!”
The titanium-silver mirrored stainless steel door was brand new and shiny, but the two white circular stickers on the doors were a bit ugly, looking like blank eyeballs.
“Hmm.” Audrow patted the mirrored metal wall. “Newly installed.”
“No wonder it looks so new.” Ning Zhixia happily stepped inside, casually suggesting, “Tear off the white paper on the door, it’s both ugly and inauspicious.”
“…” Audrow remained silent, as if pondering something. The ascending elevator vibrated almost imperceptibly.
When they reached their destination, the metal doors opened quickly. Ning Zhixia had just stepped out when they slammed shut with a clang.
The furnishings on this floor were clean and simple. As far as the eye could see, the long, narrow corridor was empty, with only a beam of light from the arched window at the end, like a tunnel leading to an unknown destination.
“Here.” Audrow stopped and gestured.
Ning Zhixia looked up. The rectangular doorplate read “Investigation Room.” Through the closed door, he could vaguely hear a cacophony of voices.
The door creaked open, and a blinding white light shone out. Ning Zhixia raised his hand to shield his eyes and looked inside.
The room was quite spacious and tidy, with several light wood L-shaped desks, strangely shaped computers and ergonomic chairs, and a sofa and rectangular coffee table in the corner by the window.
The more noticeable furnishings were six or seven rows of bookshelves filled with what looked like leather file folders. The topmost shelves held a variety of objects, from jade antiques to guns and knives, and even a… magic wand on a velvet cushion?
Ning Zhixia paused. The employees of this unit had complex attributes.
The woman in elegant dress with her back to the door was arguing heatedly with several people in uniform, her ears twitching non-stop.
Ning Zhixia: “Qiushui?!”
Su Qiushui turned around at the sound of his voice, her face lighting up: “Boss Ning!”
The familiar voice felt especially comforting. Ning Zhixia’s throat choked up as he trotted over to hold her hand, their eyes welling up.
Ning Zhixia asked: “Why are you here?”
Su Qiushui sighed: “It’s a long story…”
Just as Ning Zhixia was feeling puzzled, one of the young men put down his file and greeted him proactively: “So you’re the new owner of 19 Qingxi Road? Hello, I’m Lu Huai.”
Ning Zhixia awkwardly extended his hand and shook his: “Hello, hello… may I ask why you’ve called me…”
“Good day, Director.” Lu Huai’s gaze swept to the person behind him, his expression becoming respectful as he nodded.
This person is the director?
Ning Zhixia turned to look at Audrow’s eye-catching silver-gray hair, thinking that their unit was quite avant-garde.
But that wasn’t the point. He really wanted to know why he had been brought to this strange place.
Audrow ignored his subordinate and sat down directly on the sofa, hesitated for a few seconds, patted the space next to him, and then looked at Ning Zhixia.
That’s… a familiar gesture…
Under Lu Huai’s astonished gaze, Ning Zhixia plopped down next to him.
Lu Huai didn’t immediately answer his unfinished question, but said, “It seems you know nothing about the house at 19 Qingxi Road.”
“No, I know it very well.” Ning Zhixia’s expression suddenly became pained. “It’s the ancestor I personally renovated for three months…”
The muttering continued. Audrow seemed unsurprised by the young man’s train of thought, his eyes curving slightly.
Lu Huai understood. He really…
Knew nothing.
“Mr. Ning, you might find what I’m about to say unbelievable, but please believe me, 19 Qingxi Road is a house with special abilities.”
Lu Huai’s tone was quite serious. Ning Zhixia unconsciously straightened his back and placed his hands on his lap.
According to him, the world he lived in was one of many planes in a multiverse, connected to countless other different planes, and 19 Qingxi Road was a rare connection point between these planes.
According to the time setting of this world, every night at 7:28, time would stop, and the shop would close the passage to this world, while simultaneously opening passages to other planes for about three hours, allowing some residents of other planes to sense and enter.
Ning Zhixia was bewildered: “Residents… of other planes?”
“For example—” Lu Huai pointed to Su Qiushui, “She’s a nine-tailed fox demon from the 103rd Yokai World.”
Nine fluffy tails swayed beneath her skirt. Su Qiushui cooperatively lifted one and patted the young man’s head with the tip of her tail.
Ning Zhixia suddenly remembered last night’s strangeness, his heart pounding, but when the soft, smooth tail fur touched him…
“Hee hee.” He quickly squeezed the fur.
Su Qiushui: “Aren’t you afraid?”
Ning Zhixia: “Well, everyone here is a white-fur enthusiast.”
Seeing them chatting again, Lu Huai continued, “The function of the Dimensional Management Bureau is to ensure the harmony and stability of these planes. You can understand it as the Way of Heaven, gods, or any other term you can accept.”
“Then who created the Management Bureau?”
“A higher being, we call Him the Lord God.” Lu Huai glanced at the person next to him and added, “He bestowed upon the new director, Mr. Audrow, the power to lead the Management Bureau.”
Hearing his name, Audrow “hmmed” and casually picked up a paper bag from the coffee table, rummaging through it.
It sounded like he had gained some incredible superpower.
Ning Zhixia’s head was a mess, like a Muggle suddenly thrown into a magical school. He clutched his chest and said, “Let me process this…”
Lu Huai was understanding: “Take your time.”
“Sigh.”
Ning Zhixia hung his head and sighed softly. A hand suddenly appeared in his line of sight.
Audrow opened his palm, revealing a hard candy wrapped in shiny cellophane.
Ning Zhixia stared blankly for a moment.
Seeing him motionless, like a wind-up toy that hadn’t been wound, Audrow poked his cheek with a finger.
“Candy?”
Ning Zhixia reacted: “Oh, oh, thank you.”
He peeled off the wrapper, popped the candy into his mouth, and asked indistinctly, “Then what did you call me here for?”
“Last night, dozens of heartless corpses appeared in my world.” Su Qiushui’s light voice drifted over. “They’re like the exorcists in the Imperial City, demanding karmic retribution.”
Ning Zhixia was astonished: “What?”
Su Qiushui held a crimson smoking pipe in her hand at some point, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, lazily puffing smoke, and said with a smirk, “The rolling thunder was terrifying. Since I sensed the heavenly secrets, I naturally had to come and ask for an explanation before the lightning struck.”
Lu Huai explained: “Miss Su, before you arrived, the Heavenly Dao team responsible for the 103rd plane attempted to interfere with causality and was…”
Everyone looked slowly at Audrow.
Audrow: “Frozen.”
“Oh…”
That probably meant they were put on ice.
Ning Zhixia nodded, not noticing Su Qiushui stiffen for a moment, glancing at the person beside her with apprehension.
“The nine-tailed fox enjoys eating human hearts, slaughtering countless beings, and has caused unrest in the 103rd plane several times.” Lu Huai said tactfully, “Many administrators still believe this incident is related to Miss Su…”
Su Qiushui paused her puffing, glancing sideways at the people behind Lu Huai, clouds of smoke rising, slowly covering the red makeup around her eyes.
“Wait, aren’t you supposed to manage the planes?” Ning Zhixia interrupted. “Can’t you even find the real culprit?”
“Because…” Lu Huai looked at him impassively, “The long-dormant plane connection point suddenly opened last night, causing that plane to disconnect from the Bureau’s control, making monitoring impossible.”
A long-dormant plane connection point… Oh, that’s my shop.
The blame, after going around in a circle, finally landed on him.
Ning Zhixia abruptly looked up at Lu Huai.
Dude, are you pointing fingers at me?!
Lu Huai coughed: “But precisely because of this, Miss Su said she met with you last night, so we invited you here, firstly to inform you of the function of 19 Qingxi Road, and secondly to testify for her in front of everyone.”
Ning Zhixia suddenly realized: “Oh, I understand.”
He pointed at Su Qiushui.
Audrow: “The prime suspect identified by the administrators.”
Ning Zhixia pointed at himself.
Audrow: “The witness designated by the suspect.”
Ning Zhixia pointed at Lu Huai with a serious face.
Lu Huai learned to answer quickly: “Investigator.”
Ning Zhixia felt a headache coming on: “I… I need to process this again…”
“Understandable, take all the time you need.” Lu Huai shrugged. “After all, the first time your great-grandfather came here, he hit me with a stool and called me a ‘stupid dragon’.”
Wow, worthy of being my great-grandfather.
Wait, my great-grandfather?!
Ning Zhixia looked at Lu Huai in astonishment. This young investigator looked about the same age as him. Ning Zhixia said suspiciously, “Don’t fool me, how can a person live that long?”
“Person?”
As soon as he spoke, everyone in the room except Su Qiushui looked over, strange smiles gradually appearing on their similar faces.
Their odd gazes focused on him, making the back of Ning Zhixia’s head tingle, a chill running down his spine. He shifted his bottom uneasily.
A cold hand supported his back. Ning Zhixia, like a startled animal, flinched reflexively.
Audrow looked at him questioningly, his lips suddenly twitching slightly. He patted Ning Zhixia’s head as if petting a silly puppy.
The light blue eyes seemed to shed their gentle, hazy mist, revealing a strange, eerie quality.
Ning Zhixia finally sensed something was wrong: “Wh-what’s wrong?”
Audrow said cryptically—
“Did I ever say we were human?”
