Bai Chen Zhu did not particularly want to go either. He had been running around these past few days without any proper rest, so with this rare chance to rest, he naturally would not refuse.
But unexpectedly, after he had only slept half a day, he woke up to see Jiang Ye and Bai Tao with unpleasant expressions on their faces.
“What happened?” Bai Chen Zhu slowly took a sip of water. “Did someone bully you? Rob you? See a dead person come back to life?”
“No.” Bai Tao glanced at Jiang Ye’s darkened face. “Bro, this time it looks like you really have to go.”
She described the scene in detail.
Last night, Bai Chen Zhu had pointed them in a general direction, and following it, they actually found a strange luxury villa community.
Most of the community consisted of standalone villas, with mountains, water, lakes, and gardens—it was beautiful. There was not a single zombie inside, security guards stood at the entrance, and teams of people patrolled. It looked just like before the disaster struck.
When they arrived, they saw mutated dogs being led out one by one, taken to an open area, killed, and cremated. The gathered crowd did not look pleased, and leading them was a masked young man in black clothes, black sunglasses, and a black mask.
Jiang Ye said, “Zhuo Hua-jie, do you remember Little Jie? That kid from childhood who chased after you with snot bubbles, crying.”
Zhou Zhuo Hua thought for a moment. “Oh! You mean Tang Jie? The one who hugged your leg and cried, begging you to take him adventuring in the world!”
Adventuring in the world? What was that? Bai Chen Zhu tapped the table with his finger to make his presence known. “Bai Tao and I are still here. Who’s going to translate your secret code?”
Zhou Zhuo Hua said, “It’s like this: Jiang Ye’s family is quite special… well, he’s the young master after all, and his parents’ jobs are sensitive. Once, his dad brought him over for some business. I remember a leader in Floating Cloud City specially hosted a dinner for them at home. That leader had a young son, Tang Jie, who hit it off with Jiang Ye right away and kept pestering him to play later.”
She grinned at Jiang Ye. “He chased after Jiang Ye with a toy gun, waddling along, and after getting beaten up, he inexplicably recognized him as big brother.”
“That’s how I got to know him too. Every time Jiang Ye came to Floating Cloud City, the three of us would get together.”
After hearing this, Bai Chen Zhu felt like his position as ‘number one little brother’ was in jeopardy. He said warily, “So, you ran into him?”
“We didn’t see him, but I recognize that villa. It’s right in the middle of the Villa District, with people coming and going inside, but he’s the only one missing.” Jiang Ye fell into thought. “And the people in the Villa District have clear divisions of labor. It’s very strange.”
“Maybe they just moved away?” Bai Chen Zhu speculated.
“Moved away?” Jiang Ye paused, his expression odd. “To be precise, that whole area belongs to his family. All the villas are built around the central one.”
“Tricky.” Bai Tao struck a classic Conan pose. “Known: two big brothers took out a crazy uncle, but don’t know the uncle’s identity yet. Then the body was taken away, and back they went to burn mutated dogs, and they have a leader.”
“No matter how you look at it, we’ve made enemies, and they’re so close to us. Are we supposed to tuck tail and run?” She pursed her lips, clearly unhappy.
“As the saying goes, if you can’t solve the problem, solve the one who caused it. How about we strike first?” Bai Tao seriously mimed slitting a throat.
Though she had always known Bai Tao’s temperament, Zhou Zhuo Hua’s eyelid twitched at the sudden suggestion, and she pressed down her restless hand. “Don’t mess around. Behave.”
Unexpectedly, Jiang Ye nodded. “Makes sense.”
Bai Chen Zhu felt like he had gotten himself into trouble. He looked at the three expressionlessly, wondering what even more outrageous ideas they had.
After Zhou Zhuo Hua and Bai Tao left, he patted the edge of the bed. Jiang Ye sat sideways following his motion. “What? I saw you were absent-minded just now.”
“What Bai Tao said is a bit crooked logic, but that’s not the main reason. More importantly…” Bai Chen Zhu lifted his eyelids and glanced at him, seeing through everything. “What happened to you here before?”
Jiang Ye did not react at first, humming a puzzled sound from his nose.
“Your expression wasn’t right, starting from when you mentioned that Tang Jie. Also, I remember the original ‘you’ after arriving in Floating Cloud City…” Bai Chen Zhu then recounted what he knew.
As Jiang Ye and he reviewed it, they found their knowledge was mostly the same.
In the original timeline, Jiang Ye would arrive in Floating Cloud City a year and a half later, encountering Tang Jie, who had been disfigured and blinded in one eye. That Tang Jie was despondent and handed over the base he had painstakingly built to Jiang Ye before disappearing.
And the center of that base was precisely this wealthy villa community hidden in the residential area in the city center. Compared to the whole city, the community was small but complete in every detail.
After taking over Floating Cloud City and Tang Jie’s manpower, Jiang Ye quickly built his own forces and expanded to the surroundings. It could be said that everything Jiang Ye had in Floating Cloud City stemmed from Tang Jie.
Including the second fragment, which had originally been left in the base by Tang Jie.
Tang Jie was an important clue.
But now, they had not seen Tang Jie.
Bai Chen Zhu curled his index finger against his chin. “No wonder I sensed such chaotic mental power yesterday. It was because they were burning their pet mutants. Why didn’t they burn them before, since they knew about mutants?”
Jiang Ye explained to him, “Ability users like that crazy one are rare now. So his status must have been high while alive—maybe he suggested keeping the mutants. After his death…”
Bai Chen Zhu continued his words. “After his death, someone took his place. Based on what we know, Tang Jie must still be in the community.”
The two exchanged a glance and said in unison, “Go find Tang Jie.”
Bai Chen Zhu froze. He had not expected them to be so in sync. He said, “Looks like this trip is unavoidable. In that case, wait two days for me? I can’t walk or run right now; I’d be no help if I went.”
In any case, he was not worried about those people coming to find them.
When Bai Chen Zhu realized this thought, he suddenly grew cautious: had he unconsciously come to have such confidence in these people? But they clearly had not faced many incidents together.
“No need to wait. You wait outside the community and use mental power to guide us.” At this point, Jiang Ye paused and had to explain.
“…Actually, I’ve always been able to sense your mental power. Even without communication tools now, over short distances, you can still communicate with me using mental power.”
“Communicate?” Bai Chen Zhu suspected he had misheard a word. Otherwise, why did he recognize every character, but together they made no sense?
Jiang Ye gestured vaguely in the air, reaching out as if to grab something, but caught nothing.
Bai Chen Zhu noticed that the spot he grabbed was exactly where his Mental Threads had drifted. His gaze fixed, anxious and unsettled. “Wait, you can sense this thing too?”
He had always thought that only when his mental power was thick enough could Jiang Ye sense it roughly—like last time when he unconsciously used all his mental power to attack Jiang Ye, which was a rare case.
He had never imagined Jiang Ye’s sensitivity to mental power could be this precise.
Mental power had no physical form, after all. Bai Chen Zhu could not believe it. “Then you can sense Bai Tao’s too?”
Jiang Ye showed disgust. “Who’d pay attention to hers.”
If Bai Chen Zhu’s mental power was like a cool spring breeze, brushing past and leaving a lingering refreshing coolness that one craved. Bai Tao’s mental power was like a knife—ignore it and fine, but notice it, and all one ‘saw’ was the cutting sensation.
Bai Chen Zhu stared at Jiang Ye in shock.
Jiang Ye waved his hand in front of him puzzledly. Bai Chen Zhu snapped back, his gaze subtle. “So actually, you’ve always been able to sense it, right?”
Including but not limited to every time he got angry and let his mental power run wild, binding the person all tangled up.
Of course—that was natural. He just could not see it, not that he could not feel it. Every time a cool, silky sensation wrapped around him, Jiang Ye knew whose mental power it was.
Bai Chen Zhu was like an octopus, occasionally using invisible tentacles to wrap around people. Jiang Ye chuckled twice, propping his chin with his hand. “Well, which answer do you want to hear?”
“You!” Bai Chen Zhu repeatedly pinched the bedsheet, using so much force he nearly tore it.
That subtle feeling of being caught doing something bad made it impossible for him to reflect on it. He racked his brain over and over but could not find words to move past it. Pretending to be calm and nonchalant, he said, “Jiang Ye, I’m going out. You go to sleep.”
Jiang Ye brushed aside the stray hairs on his shoulder and leisurely corrected him. “It’s ‘You go out, I’m going to sleep.’”
The flustered Bai Chen Zhu grabbed Jiang Ye’s wrist in return, stopping his movement. His dark phoenix eyes flickered, his voice low and slow, laced with a plea and helplessness. “Jiang Ye, stop playing.”
“Fine, I can’t see anything.” Jiang Ye’s lip corner curved up slightly as he stood. “Rest well. I’ll go talk to them first, and tomorrow we’ll head over together.”
Bai Chen Zhu stared at his tall back, feeling rather awkwardly speechless.
His mental power had always been disobedient—if it listened even a little, if he could fully control it, his body would not be this weak.
Thus, in Bai Chen Zhu’s eyes, his disobedient mental power sneaked after him quietly, stealthily whipping Jiang Ye’s back twice.
Jiang Ye stopped in his tracks.
Bai Chen Zhu’s heart pounded wildly as he tried to control those embarrassing Mental Threads back. Just this once had used up all his strength, and his face paled slightly.
“Being more active is a good thing. Trying to control doesn’t mean trying to restrain—you could even consider reconciling with them.” Jiang Ye turned sideways, pointing at the Mental Threads still lingering around him. His fingertip seemed to touch cool spring water.
He rubbed his fingertip, as if touching something yet nothing, and grinned. “Pretty cute.”
With that, Jiang Ye opened the door and left.
Bai Chen Zhu was left staring at the mental power around him, which danced joyfully from the praise. Hating that iron wasn’t steel, he swiped at the air but caught nothing. He rubbed his temples, head aching. “All of you, come back.”
These uncontrolled Mental Threads were just like naughty children.
The next day, Bai Chen Zhu, shaken awake and dragged out of bed, learned what Jiang Ye meant by ‘go talk to them.’
The off-road vehicle in front of him was packed top to bottom. He signaled Zhou Zhuo Hua not to help, hopping on one foot halfway around to inspect it, then looked up at the three. “You all planning to move house?”
Bai Tao smacked her palm. “Isn’t this killing two birds with one stone? If it works, we’re moving into the rich district. If not, easy to escape!”
“Pretty convenient.” Bai Chen Zhu felt world-weary, wishing he could light a cigarette to calm down. “I thought I could stay in the hotel a few more days.”
Zhou Zhuo Hua said, “Actually, last night Jiang Ye found traces of a search in People’s Park. Suspect it’s those people looking for us. We’re so close; it’s only a matter of time before they find us. Better to go straight to their door than sneak around hiding. Besides, we need to find Tang Jie.”
Jiang Ye was already in the car waiting. Seeing the three still there, he impatiently patted the door. “Get in, get in.”
The sky was just brightening, the air cool, the sun not yet up.
They passed roads, some shop doors broken open, people sneaking out in the early dawn to loot supplies.
Greedy gazes occasionally emerged from shadows, fixed tightly on the departing off-road vehicle.
“Humans are such lazy creatures.” Bai Tao sucked on her lollipop, nostalgic. “A month ago, I’d have finished a set of practice questions and started morning reading.”
Zhou Zhuo Hua rested with eyes closed beside her. Bai Tao nudged her shoulder. “Sis, if I can still take the college entrance exam, how about I study medicine?”
“Study what medicine? Don’t! Run!” Zhou Zhuo Hua jolted awake at her words, practically shouting for dear life.
Bai Chen Zhu watched them from the rearview mirror and suddenly said, “Want to get rich? Don’t study liberal arts.”
“Oh~” Jiang Ye glanced at him. “So you studied liberal arts before?”
He showed extreme curiosity toward Bai Chen Zhu.
Bai Chen Zhu shook his head, recalling the past heavily. “Love a job, hate a job.”
Jiang Ye snorted a laugh. In the back seat, Bai Tao seriously pondered what major she could choose.
The community was close to their hotel—a turn and ten minutes later, they arrived. The outer ring was planted with greenery and lawns, sparse plants between continuous iron netting, with inconspicuous iron gates occasionally visible.
From the outside, it looked like several ordinary villas, with occasional tall, tower-like decorations. At first glance, it seemed like the owner had some money, but still within the bounds of common sense.
Bai Chen Zhu directed Jiang Ye to park the car at a certain back door. “This place is good, right here. It’ll be convenient for you to go in.”
Jiang Ye and Bai Tao got out of the car.
Zhou Zhuo Hua was uncharacteristically domineering. “All of you come back properly. You’re not allowed to get hurt anywhere.”
“Got it.” Jiang Ye shrugged his shoulders. He stared at Bai Chen Zhu until he nodded, then turned around. It was as if a layer of frost had covered his body, cool and chilly.
Jiang Ye suppressed his urge to reach out and grope around. In just a few moves, he easily snapped open the iron lock and opened the door. Bai Tao seemed unable to stand it and slid inside like an eel, keeping some distance away.
“What’s wrong?” Jiang Ye was somewhat puzzled.
“Eek!” Bai Tao twitched her nose at him, then leaned back her body. “So weird. You’re covered in Brother Bai’s scent. As long as I don’t look at you, I keep mistaking you for him!”
“Oh?” Jiang Ye did not mind too much. What he cared about more was the other meaning in her words. “You’ve already learned to recognize people with mental power?”
