He Sui left immediately. Go find his own work? Was he insane?
He Sui belonged to the Operations Division. Generally, for each mission, the Operations Division and Investigations Division would form a small team to deploy together.
Upon mission completion, Operations Division members were required to provide a brief mission report. Investigations Division members had to provide a detailed investigation report.
Jiang Wuning was one of the latter.
A-Class Contaminated Zone. Five entered, five survived. A 100% survival rate was something to marvel at.
But they’d had He Sui, and they’d only been inside for four days. Seen in that light, total team survival was perfectly logical.
And there was Xu Xiye.
Xu Xiye was unrelated to the Pollution Source, but he had a certain peculiarity. He was sociable and well-liked. Yet, this was akin to some people in the real world being especially charismatic—whether it was worth investigating was debatable. However, the Psychiatric Hospital he spoke of was very much worth noting.
A Psychiatric Hospital: a place specifically for containing Pollution Sources, one that had never before appeared on the Investigations Division’s radar.
If various Pollution Sources converged in one place, would it form a larger, more complex polluted zone?
If it could, why had this place never pulled anyone in? Or had people already entered, only nobody knew about it?
Jiang Wuning placed a mark next to “Psychiatric Hospital.”
Pending investigation.
In the Inner World, Xu Xiye, Brother Zhang, Sister Liu, and a few other colleagues diligently scavenged trash for two days.
Admittedly, after a cataclysmic explosion, many things were reduced to fragments and dust, but an area this vast still yielded a lot of salvage.
For instance, iron sheets, rebar. Or the production workshop furthest from the office building—it hadn’t shattered as thoroughly. Some of the large electrical equipment was unusable, but still sellable.
The first day, Xu Xiye made 2000. That evening, many kind-hearted people even helped him collect stuff. Xu Xiye was deeply moved. The second day, he made 1500. Altogether, that was 3500 for the two days.
His monthly wage was 4000, but this month was still five days short of a full month. So it was about right.
It was just a pity about his bonus and the Head Fee.
On the whole, the loss was within an acceptable range. He still had to thank Sister Liu for leading him in scavenging, and thank the others who’d helped. He’d need to treat them to a meal with some of the money.
Regrettably, in those two days, they hadn’t seen any of their other colleagues come by. Nor had they found any corpses underneath. For those whose numbers they knew, every call returned a “number does not exist” message. Such a large company, and overnight, only fewer than ten people remained.
Ah, such is the capriciousness of life.
“Little Ye, what are you planning to do from now on?” Brother Zhang asked.
Xu Xiye shook his head. “I don’t know yet. Brother Zhang, what are your plans?”
Actually, quite a few people had recommended jobs to Xu Xiye over these two days, but none were entirely satisfactory. He hadn’t decided what to do, so he’d turned them all down.
What he was too embarrassed to say was: seeing the company reduced to a sea of rubble, and realizing he didn’t have to work, his heart felt a burst of ease. It was only when he thought of the money that he grew troubled again.
Brother Zhang: “Someone contacted me. I’m thinking of going to an employment agency to be a recruiter. Wanna come with?”
Xu Xiye: “Recruiter? The kind that specifically introduces jobs to people?”
Brother Zhang: “That’s the one.”
Xu Xiye thought about it. He felt Brother Zhang was quite suited for it. He had an honest, upright face that made people feel at ease. Generally, that type easily gained people’s trust—folks wouldn’t think he’d lie or cheat them. That would make the job much easier to carry out.
As for Xu Xiye himself… although he was always well-liked and people were happy to talk to him, when he was tired, he didn’t want to talk. And work inevitably made you tired.
In the end, he said, “That one’s not for me.”
Brother Zhang didn’t push it, just said, “How about this: when I have job openings in hand, I’ll send them all for you to look at. You can pick for yourself.”
Xu Xiye: “Okay. Thanks, Brother Zhang.”
Sister Liu, listening on the side, chimed in now: “Little Zhang, when do you start? Can you take a look for me? I still want to find a cleaner job, in a building with elevators. You think you can do that?”
Brother Zhang: “Sure thing, Sister Liu. I start tomorrow. I’ll keep an eye out for you.”
Sister Liu: “Aye, aye. Okay. Thank you.”
They ate dinner, chatted for a while, then dispersed. Xu Xiye went home and sat down in the living room, turning on the big, boxy old TV. It was TV-watching time. Still that show: Love You Till My Heart Explodes.
The female lead and her second male lead, a manager, were getting along well, cooperating with great chemistry at work. Later, the manager confessed his feelings. She rejected him, stating that she’d just come out of a failed relationship and was in no place to start another.
From then on, she began to consciously avoid the manager. She wouldn’t meet him if she could help it, wouldn’t be alone with him.
Xu Xiye silently cheered. That’s exactly how it should be.
The manager kept praising her pure, beautiful soul, calling her heart strong and resilient. And the show’s name was Love You Till My Heart Explodes—he must be just as ill-intentioned as the male lead. They were both after her heart.
From the first few episodes, Xu Xiye had thought this. Now his conviction was even firmer.
Right, reject him like that. He’s definitely evil. When he confessed, he actually tried to pounce and bite her.
Despicable! Luckily, the female lead dodged fast, or else that one bite would have bitten her mouth right off!
She’s already avoiding him and he still chases after her? So what if he gave her a 2000-buck bouquet? What’s so great about that? I could scavenge that much trash in a day!
Xu Xiye thought, viciously.
He was completely absorbed. Two episodes of TV flew by in a flash. In the end-credits preview, the female lead met an older sister character. The two hit it off unexpectedly. The sister even took a photo with her and posted it on her social media.
While scrolling through his feed, the male lead came across that photo. The contact name on the post was “Mom.”
Xu Xiye should have been thrilled for the drama to come. And he was excited. But his mind lingered more on the woman playing the male lead’s mother.
His eyesight was excellent. He shouldn’t be mistaken. Wasn’t the male lead’s mom that auntie who lived in Building 2 of his own residential complex?
He hadn’t seen her around for so long he thought she’d died. Turned out she’d gone off to become an actress.
Seeing someone you knew from life on TV… it felt a little magical.
After the show, Xu Xiye went out for his usual crawl, and also to search for Blue Eyes.
He really didn’t want Blue Eyes to die.
If he was dead, then another Blue Eyes absolutely had to come along.
After a moment’s pause, he amended the thought: other colors would also be okay. Except black.
Under the vast night sky, amidst the dark shadows, an indescribable thing rapidly crawled, constantly shifting form. At times it twisted, at others it split, or writhed and tumbled. Sometimes, its edges could be seen extending countless fine, dense tentacles of varying lengths. Anyone with trypophobia seeing it would definitely have their Sanity Value plummet.
This thing was Xu Xiye.
He didn’t have to work tomorrow. He felt light, albeit with some underlying anxiety. Regardless, at this moment, crawling randomly outside, he was a little excited.
He liked pretty, luminous things, but that didn’t mean he disliked the dark. Just imagine, in the vast, boundless darkness, holding a shiny, glimmering thing. He would cover himself over it, completely possess it. Very satisfying.
His speed tonight was very fast. It didn’t take long to reach the hotel where Blue Eyes was staying. He crawled onto the glass. The curtains were drawn, the interior dark, but he knew no one was inside.
He checked the floor below.
No Blue Eyes.
Continued down. Still nothing.
Xu Xiye stopped checking floor by floor. He closed his senses and felt. Countless invisible Psychic Tentacles extended outward. He didn’t know how he did it, but he knew Blue Eyes was no longer in this hotel.
The black mass, as if formed of countless living things, squirmed. The sensation was akin to a person knitting their brows in severity.
He crawled down from the hotel’s glass. After hesitating a moment, he went into the hotel lobby.
The lobby was lavishly decorated, with thick, soft carpets on the floor. Xu Xiye had never entered such an upscale hotel before, and at this moment he couldn’t help feeling self-conscious. He didn’t land on the carpet—just a black blob floating in mid-air. He felt awkward going forward, but also awkward retreating.
There was no one at the front desk. At this hour, the clerk probably couldn’t resist going out for some dark, slinking crawl. However, worried a guest might visit, they had left a mouth behind.
The mouth was placed on the counter. Sensing Xu Xiye’s arrival, it immediately spoke enthusiastically: “Hello, welcome! Are you looking for a room?”
“Uh, no. I wanted to ask about something.”
“Of course. Please, go ahead.”
Xu Xiye edged a little closer, a bit embarrassed. “I’d like to know if the guest staying in the top-floor suite… has died?”
This fell under guest privacy. He wasn’t sure if the hotel would tell him.
“Understood. Let me check for you.” The mouth didn’t hesitate. It clattered a few times on the keyboard and produced an answer. “He has not. That guest has not checked out. His identity is still valid. He should not be dead.”
Xu Xiye breathed a sigh of relief. He said a quick “Thanks” and left promptly.
Not dead is good. If he’s not dead, I’ll just have to search a little more.
Thinking this, the black blob hovering in midair began to rise… and expand. Like a black mist, spreading and diffusing high up. Like darkness itself, as if it were everywhere.
No one could sense his presence. If they looked up, the sky was just the sky.
Perhaps, if Xu Xiye became large enough, he could become the sky itself.
…Well, either way, right now he couldn’t do it. Not long after, he came back down, seemingly somewhat dejected.
He couldn’t find Blue Eyes.
Some places were too far. He couldn’t stretch that far. He could only temporarily give up searching for Blue Eyes.
Blue Eyes was way too much of a wanderer.
The next afternoon, Brother Zhang, already working, sent him a slew of job postings.
Livestream shopping host: Not this, requires nonstop talking.
Advertising and marketing: Might work, need to look further.
Tailor’s apprentice: Can’t learn this.
Xu Xiye went down the list one by one. Finally, his gaze stopped.
Extra. 200 a day. Daily Pay.
He stared at the words ‘Extra’ and ‘Daily Pay,’ unable to look away.
He’d worked at the Delicious Food Company for two years, doing the same job the whole time. Should he give being an Extra a try?
After seeing the auntie from Building 2 play the male lead’s mother, he’d developed a bit of interest in acting. And Extra work was definitely not long-term. If he didn’t like it, no big deal.
A role with few scenes, maybe even no lines, but 200 a day. And Daily Pay.
Daily Pay meant no working for free. Daily Pay meant even if the boss dropped dead tomorrow, today’s wages were already in hand.
Daily Pay was a very important thing.
