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Chapter 65: “I’m not afraid,” he whispered back, “I love you.”
Zhang Xiao’s suggestion left both Qin Ge and Xie Zijing stunned. Neither had ever heard of such a way to patrol the “sea area.”
“This is also a new patrolling method I’ve just learned,” Zhang Xiao explained. “To be frank, I haven’t experimented with it on anyone. This method is an extremely heavy burden for a Sentinel. Xie Zijing, you will definitely feel pain. What I can assure you is that your ‘sea area’ will not suffer any damage, but the discomfort will be intense.”
Seeing the hesitation on Xie Zijing’s face, Zhang Xiao nodded, “It’s okay; take your time. Think it over carefully. You are the person involved; your willingness is the most important.”
Qin Ge squeezed Xie Zijing’s hand. Xie Zijing needed to think and be alone right now. He and Zhang Xiao walked aside, both wearing expressions of wanting to say something but hesitating.
The Atlantis Bar had very few people inside. Bai Xiaoyuan was lying on the table. Qin Ge brushed her hair aside and found that she was just asleep.
“Go ahead.” Zhang Xiao’s expression was very serious. “Qin Shuangshuang told me you have something important to tell me about Lu Qinglai. She might have missed some details while passing the message. I want to hear it from you.”
“Besides Lu Qinglai, there’s also someone now named Zhou You,” Qin Ge said.
He told Zhang Xiao everything he currently knew about Lu Qinglai and Zhou You.
Zhang Xiao was silent for a long time. Qin Ge felt uneasy and nervous.
“Lu Qinglai… He and I are basically the same age and both alumni of New Hope. He obtained his adjuster qualification after me. I did patrol his ‘sea area.’ You know, Qin Ge, that’s a very thorough patrol. If there was anything amiss in Lu Qinglai’s ‘sea area,’ he couldn’t possibly have gotten my approval.”
Zhang Xiao looked at Qin Ge.
“I can tell you for sure that at that time, Lu Qinglai had no issues.” He paused briefly and then continued, “But if you ask me whether it’s entirely problem-free for him to become a adjuster, I can’t say for sure. Lu Qinglai is very special. His spirit and personality are very normal, but he has a peculiar fascination with authority. Of course, this isn’t a defect; his fervor is completely academic. Should only physically perfect people become doctors? Should only those with no psychological shadows become psychologists? Should only those with absolutely spotless ‘sea areas’ become adjusters? Qin Ge, adjusters aren’t chosen that way.”
Qin Ge nodded.
In fact, even Qin Ge couldn’t say his own “sea area” was completely problem-free. The night that never dawned, countless falling stars, raging wildfires—everything in the “sea area” was his fear and desire.
“If a person’s ‘sea area’ is entirely clean, with no fears or shadows, then that person is actually the most terrifying,” Zhang Xiao said. “A adjuster is a profession, and since it’s a profession, the highest requirements are professional competence and ethics. Lu Qinglai had no problems. But what I am thinking now is… he might have encountered something later.”
“…He has been to Luquan,” Qin Ge said.
Zhang Xiao was slightly taken aback and immediately stood up straight.
Qin Ge: “He and Xie Zijing met in Luquan.” He mentioned Xie Zijing’s parents’ disappearance and Xie Zijing’s memory loss and confusion.
Zhang Xiao was stunned for a moment. “Luquan?! Is Xie Zijing from Tianjin?”
Qin Ge was also surprised, “How do you know?”
Zhang Xiao’s expression became solemn, “Qin Ge, get Xie Zijing to make a decision as soon as possible. Try to persuade him to open his ‘sea area’ to me. As long as he agrees, you can contact me immediately at any time. There are some things I can’t tell you right now, but if Xie Zijing agrees to let me into his ‘sea area,’ I will communicate with you.”
Gao Qiong was chatting with a few tense criminal investigation officers.
“Am I that scary?” He was extremely puzzled, “Why do you all seem so afraid of me?”
Everyone: “Not scary at all!”
Gao Qiong held a glass of plain water, “Lies. By the way, you work so late, is it considered overtime?”
Everyone: “Our working hours are basically like this.”
“Exploitation,” Gao Qiong said, “No overtime pay?”
Everyone: “None, not a cent of overtime pay has been given this year. I heard that the budget was cut because the statistical work on special humans wasn’t done well, so there’s less money.”
Gao Qiong’s expression became very complex—first shocked, then a trace of sympathy, and finally a slight smile, “So none at all…”
Zhang Xiao came over, and Gao Qiong handed him the water and said, “It’s not hot.”
Zhang Xiao took a couple of sips, his face serious. “Did you carry out a special commission from the Special Management Committee a long time ago?” he asked, “One of those top-secret missions you wouldn’t tell me about, at the Western Office.”
Gao Qiong thought for a moment, “A commission at the Western Office? There were four. Which one are you talking about?”
Zhang Xiao covered his mouth with the cup and lowered his voice, “Luquan. When the entire Falcon squad was wiped out, the Western Office found their bodies, and as soon as the report reached the Crisis Office, it was immediately intercepted by the Special Management Committee. You led the Wolf Fang squad to carry out this investigation, didn’t you?”
Gao Qiong was stunned, “…Why bring up Luquan again?”
Zhang Xiao pointed behind him, “This Sentinel is the child of that couple from the Luquan incident.”
Gao Qiong glanced back, his brows furrowing, “Wait, this was my confidential mission. How do you know about it?”
Zhang Xiao smiled.
Gao Qiong: “You peeked at my diary.”
Zhang Xiao: “…Are these written in your diary? All you write about is what you ate today, what you ate yesterday, and those unspeakable things.”
Gao Qiong looked at him half-skeptically.
Zhang Xiao: “Because I knew what was beneath Luquan very early on.”
Gao Qiong immediately shut his mouth tightly. Zhang Xiao slowly finished his water, and as he put down the cup, he heard Gao Qiong speak.
“I never want to go underground in Luquan again,” he said through gritted teeth. “Even for triple overtime pay, I wouldn’t want to go.”
The two of them fell silent, just looking at Xie Zijing in the corner of the bar, watching the young Sentinel and his Guide holding hands, leaning on each other, whispering words they couldn’t hear.
***
Xie Zijing followed Qin Ge back to Qin Ge’s home. It was only after leaving the Wangdu district that he gradually felt like he was returning to the normal world.
“Will Lei Chi and his team inform us of their progress in investigating this case?” Xie Zijing asked.
Qin Ge: “They should inform me. Once Bian Han wakes up, they will start the interrogation and rely on my ‘sea area’ report.”
Xie Zijing understood: Qin Ge would be working overtime tonight.
They had already eaten outside. After each had taken a bath, Qin Ge opened his laptop on the dining table to write the report, while Xie Zijing sat on the sofa, hugging a rabbit and watching a zombie movie.
This night was no different from every other night they had spent together.
Xie Zijing loved nights like this. He wished there would never be any difference, that they could always spend their nights like this. He had a warm ball of fur in his arms, and when he turned his head, he could see the person he liked.
Bian Han’s “sea area” situation was very complicated. Qin Ge was completely absorbed in writing and had just managed to clarify the part about Zhou You when he suddenly felt an itch on his hand: his long-haired rabbit had run over and placed its two paws on the keyboard, its eyes, covered by long hair, staring intently at Qin Ge.
“If you dare turn off the computer, I won’t let you play with Xie Zijing anymore,” Qin Ge immediately said.
The rabbit promptly withdrew its paws. It was obviously very bored, rolling several times on the dining table, its little tail twitching, trying to get Qin Ge’s attention.
Qin Ge turned his head and saw that the zombie movie had ended. Xie Zijing was smoking on the balcony, plucking the ukulele that Jiang Xiaochuan had given him.
He understood why the rabbit had come to him: no one was playing with it.
The intermittent sound of the ukulele strings drifted over. Xie Zijing had a lit cigarette in his mouth, and this time he wasn’t singing, just plucking the strings with his head down.
His nose was straight and prominent, and sometimes his profile was even more handsome than his front view. Qin Ge stared blankly for a while, recalling the day he first met Xie Zijing. With that fleeting glance outside the reception room of the Crisis Management Office, he had never thought he would have such deep interactions with this person and such a strong attachment.
He wished he could immediately, perhaps tonight, perhaps now, restore Xie Zijing’s “sea area” to normal.
Make him remember everything that happened in Luquan, make the ruins in his “sea area” disappear, and allow the original grand city to be rebuilt.
“What are you playing this time?” Qin Ge walked over to Xie Zijing and asked.
Seeing him come out, Xie Zijing hurriedly pressed his cigarette into the flowerpot. “An old song,” he said, “This one isn’t a love song.”
He began to sing softly in a language unfamiliar to Qin Ge.
Qin Ge leaned against the railing, watching the clouds drift away one after another in the city’s night sky. The wind was strong tonight, with no moon or stars, and the pouring ink-like darkness flowed overhead. The neon lights of the human world were the long lamps lighting the road, scattered all over the earth.
“I am walking on the path of seeking God,” Xie Zijing suddenly said. “I have returned from the vast snowfields; the human world is a desolate wasteland.”
Qin Ge looked at him quietly, and Xie Zijing looked back at him in the same way.
After a moment, Xie Zijing moved closer to him and kissed the corner of his lips.
“I agree,” he said softly. “You and Zhang Xiao can enter my ‘sea area.'”
Qin Ge cupped his face. “I will restore your ‘sea area.'”
“Mm,” Xie Zijing nodded. “You will save me.”
Qin Ge’s eyes heated up, almost bringing him to tears.
He knew Xie Zijing’s fear. Xie Zijing wasn’t afraid of his ‘sea area’ being abnormal forever. What he truly feared was becoming mad because of his abnormal ‘sea area,’ like Bian Han, going insane from imaginary romantic fantasies and ultimately hurting Qin Ge and those around him.
Xie Zijing kissed Qin Ge’s eyebrows affectionately.
“Don’t be afraid…” Qin Ge whispered. “Trust me.”
“I’m not afraid,” Xie Zijing replied. “I love you.”
***
The next morning, Qin Ge woke up earlier than Xie Zijing. He hadn’t slept well; one reason was Xie Zijing holding him all night, and another important factor was worrying about Xie Zijing’s ‘sea area.’
He got dressed, grabbed his phone, and sneaked to the balcony to call Zhang Xiao.
Zhang Xiao’s voice showed no sign of weariness or any grogginess from just waking up. Upon hearing that Xie Zijing had agreed, he was very happy: “I spent the whole night researching. We should be able to complete this patrolling process perfectly.”
He told Qin Ge that he would send some reference materials to Qin Ge’s email shortly, which Qin Ge must read.
“Additionally, since Xie Zijing has agreed, I can tell you something now,” Zhang Xiao said, “something related to Xie Zijing.”
Qin Ge answered seriously, “I’m listening.”
“Previously, Qin Shuangshuang asked me, and she said you were also puzzled, about who the second adjuster is apart from the few of us mental adjusters.” Zhang Xiao’s voice was very calm, as if he were talking about something completely ordinary, “The identity of the second adjuster is very special. His work is entirely confidential, even his family doesn’t know his true job content. What I am about to say must remain confidential; without my permission, you cannot tell anyone.”
Qin Ge quickly agreed.
Zhang Xiao: “After I returned tonight, I specifically rechecked his file… It’s him, no doubt. He is very important, or rather, very special.”
The second adjuster, unlike Qin Ge, Lu Qinglai, and Qin Shuangshuang, serves certain special individuals.
“For example, the highest level of the Special Management Committee,” Zhang Xiao paused, “and certain prisoners with extremely significant, highly unique criminal records.”
Zhang Xiao sighed lightly.
“Very, very few people know his identity. After I became the first adjuster, someone immediately approached me, hoping I would train an adjuster specifically for special individuals. I searched for a long time and eventually found him.”
Qin Ge’s eyelids suddenly twitched.
“His name is Xie Liang,” Zhang Xiao said, “He is Xie Zijing’s father.”
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