Chapter 42 Part 1
Shi Xu arrived ten minutes early. The coffee shop had private rooms for discreet conversations. He chose the most secluded one upstairs, and the housekeeper soon arrived.
Although he grew up in the Shi household, and the housekeeper had always been there, they weren’t close.
His earliest memories involved his older siblings caring for him. He had few memories of the housekeeper. After his siblings died, he closed himself off, further minimizing their interactions.
“Young Master.”
Shi Xu’s falling out with Shi Yan wasn’t a secret. The housekeeper remained respectful.
The housekeeper, surnamed Zhou, was five years older than Shi Yan. Unlike the meticulously maintained Shi Yan, his age was evident. He was old enough to retire, yet he continued to work for the Shi family.
But this time, his loyalty had shifted. He had betrayed Shi Yan.
He wasn’t comfortable with technology. Shi Xu asked the waiter for a menu, placing it before him.
“What would you like to drink?” Shi Xu gestured at the menu.
The housekeeper offered his usual polite smile. “Water is fine.”
They had nothing to small talk about, and the housekeeper knew it, skipping the pleasantries.
“What does Jinzhu Bay mean?” Shi Xu got straight to the point, his tone certain. “You know about that pollutant.”
The housekeeper nodded, his expression pained. “I only loved once in my life. She was a wealthy young lady, far above my station. We were forced to separate, her family taking her abroad. She died three years later. Years after that, I discovered a secret. She had given birth to my child. That child… was Ah Cheng…”
“The timing of this discovery was unfortunate. It was half a month after your sister’s death. I couldn’t tell Ah Cheng the truth, watching him grieve for the woman he loved. I tried to help him, but I couldn’t. He…”
His face contorted with pain, his voice trembling slightly, betraying his emotions.
“At his lowest point, a pollutant approached him, offering him a chance to see her again, in exchange for his life. I couldn’t stop him. He willingly made the trade.”
Shi Xu remembered Qi Yu’s theory, having dismissed it as an interesting story, but now, he realized Qi Yu was right.
How deep must his love have been, to willingly sacrifice his life?
Even knowing the pollutant’s offer was an illusion, he chose to lose himself in that fabricated dream?
Shi Xu couldn’t understand, but he couldn’t say it was wrong.
One thing was certain: Ah Cheng truly loved his sister.
“When did this happen?”
The housekeeper: “A year after your sister’s death.”
The timeline matched Ah Cheng’s disappearance.
Shi Xu wanted to ask why he didn’t report it to the Anomaly Management Bureau.
The answer was immediately apparent—
He wasn’t the heartless Shi Yan. He couldn’t bring himself to betray his own son, choosing to hide the secret, allowing the pollutant to continue harming innocent people.
“Back then, it was only an F-class pollutant, but it was already cunning. It knew it would be killed if discovered by espers, so it used Ah Cheng’s appearance to manipulate me. I fell for it.”
The housekeeper chuckled bitterly. “I know I shouldn’t have hidden it, but I owed him so much. His grandfather never acknowledged him. He was abandoned by his family from birth. I couldn’t even help him while he was alive. I wanted to atone, but my selfishness only led to more mistakes…”
Having worked at the Anomaly Management Bureau for six years, Shi Xu had witnessed countless tragedies, stories far more heartbreaking than the housekeeper’s.
He wasn’t moved. He understood the housekeeper’s motives, but he couldn’t empathize.
His mind clear, his voice almost indifferent, he asked, “The Anomaly Management Bureau never detected that pollutant for so many years. Was that your doing?”
The housekeeper: “Master helped me. I’ve been his housekeeper for decades. He has some affection for me. He pitied me for losing my son, helping me hide the pollutant. He gave me a house. The pollutant lived there. I visited him whenever I had time.”
Shi Xu wasn’t surprised by Shi Yan’s actions.
The word “pity” was accurate. He knew Shi Yan’s true motive wasn’t sympathy.
It was a calculated act of manipulation, earning the housekeeper’s loyalty and gratitude, ensuring his obedience.
Did Shi Yan care about the pollutant’s victims?
Of course not.
He was arrogant, confident that the espers he trained could protect him.
He probably thought that even if the pollutant caused trouble, he could simply have it eliminated before the bureau discovered it, the secret remaining hidden.
He thought he was in control.
A father wanting to atone for his son’s loss, yet using that guilt as leverage against the housekeeper. How ironic.
Shi Yan was a businessman, prioritizing profit above all else.
“So you kept the pollutant, and now you’re telling me the truth?” Shi Xu scoffed. “Have you suddenly decided to redeem yourself?”
“That pollutant, because of my indulgence, killed countless people. I can’t do anything to atone for that.” The housekeeper covered his tired face, sighing. “I did have a sudden realization. I realized Ah Cheng was no longer the Ah Cheng I knew. He was just a filthy pollutant, wearing my son’s body, using it to commit atrocities…”
Initially, the pollutant had been obedient. He had been deceived by the facade.
It was clever, knowing it was too weak to confront him directly, resorting to lies and deception.
It used Ah Cheng’s appearance and personality to manipulate him, making him unable to kill it.
It devoured and evolved for over a decade, finally shedding its disguise.
And then, his Ah Cheng became… unrecognizable…
Half a month ago, he visited ‘Ah Cheng’ at Jinzhu Bay, only to find him gnawing on a child’s foot. The child was still alive, his eyes lighting up with hope upon seeing him, reaching out to him, pleading for help.
“S-Save me… Wuwuwu… it hurts… Grandpa, please help me… I… I miss my mommy… I want to go home… Wuwuwu…”
He closed the door as usual, waiting for the cries and chewing sounds to stop.
“Mommy… wuwuwu…”
“Don’t worry, I’ll help you find your mommy. Just be good, and I’ll grant your wish.”
Even though he was numb to it, the child’s cries still stirred a flicker of unease within him.
A wish?
An A-class pollutant wouldn’t bother with such a pretense.
It could easily kill humans, no need for lies and deception.
Granting wishes?
Did it really grant them?
When he opened the door again, ‘Ah Cheng’ hadn’t returned to his human form, his face a bloody, twisted mess, bits of flesh still clinging to his lips, sitting on the blood-soaked floor, staring at him greedily.
“So hungry… I want more… I need to evolve…”
‘Ah Cheng’ mumbled, not attacking him, but his red eyes, filled with a hungry longing, were fixated on him, the gaze lingering even after he left.
He knew that if not for the child, he would have been ‘Ah Cheng’s’ next meal.
He was spared because his flesh wasn’t tender enough.
Next time, he might not be so lucky.
This wasn’t his Ah Cheng.
He finally understood.
After his sister started dating, she often brought her boyfriend home. The housekeeper often saw him.
Ah Cheng was gentle and polite. During their first meeting, before he could even speak, Ah Cheng greeted him with a smile. He still remembered that smile.
Every time he visited, Ah Cheng brought him a gift, nothing expensive, but a thoughtful gesture.
Just because his sister had said, “Uncle Zhou takes good care of me,” Ah Cheng treated him with respect, calling him “Uncle Zhou” affectionately.
Such a kind and gentle young man couldn’t be that monstrous pollutant.
He was wrong, terribly wrong.
He was guilty, his sins heavy.
Ah Cheng was long dead. He had selfishly kept him in this world, allowing that monster to use his son’s appearance to commit atrocities.
He didn’t deserve to be Ah Cheng’s father. He used atonement as an excuse to harm even more innocent lives.
So he decided to reveal the truth, to find closure for Ah Cheng, and for himself.
“I’ll turn myself in.”
Shi Xu didn’t respond. Whether the housekeeper confessed was his own decision. Regardless of his motives, harboring a pollutant was a serious crime. Even without a confession, he would be punished.
Shi Xu didn’t want to discuss this, seizing the opportunity to ask the most important question. “What do you know about my sister?”
The housekeeper looked up, his eyes filled with shadows. He knew what Shi Xu wanted to ask, and he was willing to tell him everything.
“The world rifts contain many treasures, and many things beyond human comprehension. I don’t know what Master wants, but I know he trained you to retrieve something from the rifts…”
Shi Xu had suspected this even before meeting Gu Sui.
His siblings died for it, and he would have been next, if not for his timely escape from Shi Yan’s control.
The housekeeper didn’t know what Shi Yan was looking for, but Shi Xu had a strong suspicion.
The housekeeper continued, “Your sister once returned from a rift with a golden egg. She treated it like her own child, carrying it everywhere. She gradually became… unstable. Master, unable to bear it, tried to take the egg away. She became furious. It was the first time she defied him, because of an egg.”
The memory was vivid, his smile turning into a frown. He sighed. “That egg controlled her mind, manipulating her, making her protect it. She changed, her relationship with Master strained after their argument, then… we received news of her death.”
Shi Xu’s eyes narrowed, lost in thought.
The timeline matched his memories. He hadn’t seen the egg. Perhaps his sister had hidden it from him.
He had always thought she left because she couldn’t bear his brother’s death and her own predetermined fate. He hadn’t realized there was another reason.
He hadn’t noticed her unusual behavior.
“She was normal,” he said, then repeated, “She was normal!”
At least, in his memories, she had always been gentle and kind.
She had even smiled when they last met.
