Chapter 41: Unemployed, Fan Express

The man’s fingers were long and powerful. His attention wasn’t on them, and his grip was neither light nor heavy. It was only after a while that he realized what he was holding.

He Sui stopped moving and looked at the black tentacle scrunched up in his palm. The air fell silent for a second.

“Forget it, if you won’t eat.” He Sui placed the little tentacle back on the table. With his other hand, he picked up the shrimp dumpling from the plate and popped it into his own mouth.

Xu Xiye: “…”

He Sui ignored him. After breakfast, he cleared the things away into the kitchen. When he came out, he found the tentacle pressed against the glass window, looking outside.

He stopped and watched for a moment, then walked over and peeled the tentacle off the glass.

He Sui pinched it between two fingers, like holding a small snake by its vital point, his voice lazy and low: “Don’t run around.”

The tentacle seemed harmless now, but He Sui wasn’t entirely at ease with it. He had to keep this thing right under his nose.

The tentacle didn’t fuss. After a while, it barely moved, looking no different from a sleeping little animal.

He Sui calculated the time. It was around 1 or 2 AM in the Inner World right now, precisely when anomalies were most active. It shouldn’t be this quiet.

Focusing on one end meant neglecting the other?

But tentacle-type entities could generally multi-task. It was probably due to the World Barrier.

He Sui went into his study and stayed there for the better part of the day. In the afternoon, he headed to Lou Hao’s house, having been invited for dinner.

He Sui coiled the little tentacle around his wrist again. He was wearing a shirt and carelessly exposed the thing on his wrist to Lou Hao’s sight.

Lou Hao glanced over there a few times on instinct, but He Sui knew he saw nothing.

If even Lou Hao couldn’t see it, then this severed piece of energy body was pathetically small.

“Old He, what’s the deal with you and Teacher Lu Ren, anyway?” After dinner, Lou Hao brought a plate of fruit to the terrace and gestured for He Sui, who was lounging over there catching the breeze, to come over. “My mom prepared this specially. Ha, all your favorites.”

He Sui walked over, pulled out a chair, and leaned back in it lazily, one long leg bent and the other stretched out. “Oh, thank your aunt for me. You close with him?”

“Who? Teacher Lu Ren? No, but don’t forget my ability. He’s not an enemy.”

“Got it.”

Lou Hao’s narrow, sharp eyes looked over, exasperated by He Sui’s lackadaisical nature. “Can you answer my question? Why is it always me answering you!”

What was the deal with him and Lu Ren?

He Sui lowered his eyes, his fingertip pressing on the thing on his wrist that only he could see.

Actually, compared to last night, this thing had already shrunk a size.

“I don’t know,” he said to Lou Hao. “You should ask him. The brain circuits of an anomaly aren’t something just anyone can understand.”

Lou Hao frowned, wanting to say something, but also feeling the words made sense.

“When are you going into the Inner World next?”

“In a couple of days,” he paused, then said bluntly, “I’m going alone.”

Lou Hao shut his mouth.

He grabbed a fist-sized strawberry and took a bite, suppressing the corners of his mouth as he asked, “You still looking for Tai’an Residential Area?”

“Yeah.”

“I suggest you just threaten an anomaly into guiding you.”

He Sui shook his head. “Tried that long ago. Useless.”

Even though He Sui had a formal identity in the Inner World, that didn’t mean he was popular there.

An anomaly that wasn’t genuinely guiding you couldn’t lead a person to the correct destination.

Inner World.

The day after the extra job ended, Xu Xiye had mostly digested everything by daytime. First things first, he needed to deal with the two psychiatric patients in his pocket.

He had called Director Liang. The director said he would come over personally.

While waiting, Xu Xiye thought about his communication with Blue Eyes.

It was truly infuriating. They were clearly in the same house, yet the number of times he’d viewed those eyes was so few.

It was also the fault of that little tentacle being too small. Its field of view was limited; there wasn’t much it could see.

What was so good about that foreign land? Xu Xiye hadn’t seen anything appealing at all.

If it had been Xu Xiye’s main body, he could have gotten a 360-degree clear view of Blue Eyes’ eyes.

By noon, Xu Xiye was even a little angry at Blue Eyes.

He knew his energy could burst him, but didn’t he know that not feeding him would starve him?

In all this time, he hadn’t fed him a single bit.

Oh, only that one shrimp dumpling this morning, which was clearly for him, yet Blue Eyes ended up eating it himself.

How about just snatching his eyes directly?

No, he couldn’t do that.

Plucking them out would make them lose their luster.

He’d better think of another way.

Director Liang came to the residential area to find Xu Xiye in the afternoon.

The man wore a white lab coat, his figure thin and spare. His skin had a rock-like, grayish-white tone. He looked to be in his thirties, but his eyes were as still as an ancient well, as if he had existed for a very, very long time.

“Director Liang.”

Xu Xiye went downstairs and walked up to the man, calling out. The man’s eyes stirred, as if a static painting had come to life.

“Mm, Little Ye.”

“Director, these are the patients I found. Take a look.”

Xu Xiye took the people out of his pocket. Time for Zhuo Heng and Zhou Cao began to flow in that instant.

Zhou Cao was still unconscious. Zhuo Heng was still in a state of cognitive confusion. He felt like he was in a great flood, and as soon as he was released, he hugged Xu Xiye’s leg.

Xu Xiye frowned. Not because his leg was grabbed by a puppy, but because he seemed to smell artificial meat.

He looked down at the little dog, then at Zhou Cao, feeling something was off.

Just then, Director Liang took out two ID tags bearing the psychiatric hospital’s emblem and stuck them onto Zhou Cao and Zhuo Heng.

That artificial meat smell vanished.

Xu Xiye asked, puzzled, “Director, did you just smell that?”

Director Liang: “Yes, it was Outsiders.”

Oh, right. The aura of Outsiders was somewhat similar to artificial meat.

“Let’s go,” Director Liang said to the two on the ground.

After the tags were applied, Zhou Cao had woken up, just sitting on the ground blankly.

But Zhuo Heng still clung desperately to Xu Xiye’s leg, yelling, “No! I won’t go! Don’t make me go, I’ll drown!”

Whether he saw Xu Xiye as a tree or something else, he only felt safe beside him.

Xu Xiye sighed. He knew the little brown-furred dog would go crazy; that’s why he’d left him his phone number. But he really hadn’t expected him to go mad this fast.

Xu Xiye ruffled the little dog’s light brown hair, making him look up at himself. “You’re sick. You need to go to the hospital for treatment.”

He paused, then added, “You can call me.”

Xu Xiye looked at Zhuo Heng. Zhuo Heng looked at him and quieted down.

“Do you still remember my number?”

Crazed to this degree, Xu Xiye didn’t think he would remember. But suddenly, Zhuo Heng opened his mouth and recited his number without a single mistake.

Zhuo Heng… Zhuo Heng’s mind was a mess right now. He didn’t know who he was, nor could he see his surroundings clearly.

In his world, only Xu Xiye was clear.

Zhuo Heng was his name. Calling was important. The number was important.

These were the only three things Zhuo Heng could clearly remember in his chaotic mind at that moment.

Xu Xiye thought he wasn’t too bad. He patted his head as if rewarding him and asked Director Liang, “Can the little dog be cured?”

Director Liang had been watching him quietly all along. Now, at these words, he smiled. “Thinking of raising a puppy?”

Xu Xiye: “…” Why did that sound so familiar?

Xu Xiye still solemnly stated his position: “I have no plans to keep a pet in the near future.”

“If you want to raise anything, just tell me. I’ll catch it for you.”

“Mm, mm, I can catch things myself too.”

“Do you still want a job?”

“Of course. These next few days, I can contact Brother Zhang. Look for a job while doing part-time work on the side.” He just didn’t know exactly how many days Xie Lincheng meant by “contact you in a few days.”

“Alright, whatever you say. Their conditions aren’t too severe. If they behave and don’t run around, a cure is no problem,” Director Liang said. “I’ll take them back to the hospital then. Have fun here by yourself.”

“Mm, mm.”

“Let’s go.” When Director Liang looked at Zhou Cao and Zhuo Heng, his grayish-white, sculpted face had become as still as an ancient well again.

This time, whether Zhuo Heng wanted to or not, he was just the same as Zhou Cao—like mental patients who had taken their medicine, woodenly standing up, woodenly following behind Director Liang as they left.

The moment Director Liang left, Xu Xiye received a deposit notification.

He really earned it this time, Xu Xiye thought sincerely.

What kind of job should he look for next?

Best to find a stable, long-term job, one with free time, so he could make time for part-time gigs.

Xu Xiye looked for a job for two days and hadn’t found anything suitable yet.

Xie Lincheng still hadn’t contacted him.

Blue Eyes still hadn’t fed him.

He could barely sense Blue Eyes’ presence anymore. The little tentacle would disappear very soon.

On his third day as an unemployed wanderer, the show he’d worked on as an extra aired.

Not on TV, nor in cinemas. Just online.

Xu Xiye had no interest in this show, but since he’d participated in filming, he still wanted to see how it turned out after editing.

It was two hours long. When he clicked on it, there was barely any view count.

Xu Xiye quietly started watching.

A group of people took shelter from the rain in a villa. After entering the villa, strange things happened to everyone.

There had to be a ghost in the villa. That ghost was hiding among them. They had to find the ghost and eliminate it.

During this process, they gradually recalled that they had once hurt a girl.

And that girl was the ghost.

In the end, some of the group went mad, some were injured. They worked together to eliminate the female ghost, but they never left the villa again.

The final shot was of the villa in ruins, and the extras looking at the ruins.

In one corner of the frame was a black off-road vehicle. Inside the car sat him, Lu Ren.

…

Not good. Xu Xiye once again came to this conclusion.

He counted his appearances. Six times in total. Aside from the final shot, five times were in the main hall.

Either eating or looking out the window at the scenery.

Xu Xiye nodded. Even though this wasn’t a plot he liked, he had still done his job well.

Xu Xiye originally thought this show would pass by uneventfully. Then, unexpectedly, just three days later, the video’s views skyrocketed, and discussions exploded.

[So good!]

[Good good good good good good]

[Good good good good good good good]

Xu Xiye looked at these comments suspiciously.

Water army. Definitely water army.

Where were normal comments all like this?

Xu Xiye calmly turned off his phone.

On the sixth day of being an unemployed wanderer, it was already dark when Xu Xiye finished his interview. Job interviews were also very stressful. He’d run around outside, jumping up and down, before returning. Passing by the security booth, the old gatekeeper called out to him.

“Little Ye, heh heh… delivery, your delivery.”

The old man’s hand, covered in bark-like wrinkles, reached out and showed him a delivery box leaning against the wall, taller than a person.

Xu Xiye froze. “Sir, I didn’t buy anything for delivery.”

“Heh heh… a gift from a fan.”

Ah, I have fans?

Bewildered, Xu Xiye extended several tentacles to take the delivery. It had some weight to it.

He hugged the box and shook it. It was packed very tightly; he couldn’t tell what was inside from the sound.

“Little Ye, do you want me to help you carry it upstairs?”

“No, no, I can carry it. Sir, I’m heading up first.”

“Good, good, heh heh…” The old man looked at him kindly. “Take two apples back to eat.”

The night was deep. Seeing the old man was eager to go out for his stroll, he didn’t refuse further and reached out two tentacles to take them.

Xu Xiye went upstairs with the delivery and apples. On the way back, he couldn’t help shaking his delivery box again.

The words “Gift from a fan” were written on the box.

He really had fans… Xu Xiye was still a bit dazed even after carrying the thing into the living room.

He put the apples on the table, then prepared to open the box.

Such a big gift. Let’s see what exactly this fan sent.